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* 


REPORT 

OF THE 


SUPERINTENDENT OF SURVEYS. 



ON THE PRELIMINARY SURVEY, COST OF CONSTRUC¬ 
TION. AND ESTIMATED REVENUE OF A BRANCH. 


OF 

TIip EimM ftmtic jfyukoad, 

F ROM 

MARYSVILLE, CALIFORNIA, TO THE COLUMBIA RIVER 
IN OREGON; TOGETHER WITH 

A REPORT 

ON THE WEALTH AND RESOURCES 

OF THE STATE OF OREGON. 


SALEM, OREGON: 

STATESMAN POWER PRESS. 

1864 . 






















* 








I 

I 

































5 













































































REPORT 


COLONEL CHARLES BARRY, 

ON THE 


PRELIMINARY SURVEY, COST OF CONSTRUCTION. 
AND ESTIMATED REVENUE OF A BRANCH 


The Eeahal Lmfic ^ailwajl. 


K ROM 


> 


MARYSVILLE, CALIFORNIA, TO THE COLUMBIA RIVER 
IN OREGON; TOGETHER WITH 


A REPORT 

ON THE WEALTH AND RESOURCES 

OF THE STATE OF OREGON. 


SALEM,. OREGON: 

STATESMAN POWER PRESS. 

1864 . 

C6P\/ 2 j 







Golond fljqnni 

To the Directors of the California and 

Columbia River Railroad Company : 

Gentlemen: I herewith submit my report of surveys 
.and explorations for an eligible railroad route through the 
Willamette, Umpqua and Rogue river valleys, and matters 
therewith connected. 

This report being intended for general circulation, the 
description of route, &c., will be made in common and 
non-professional language. 

ROUTES. 

In passing from the Rogue river to the Umpqua valley, 
three routes are proposed. The first, is the one by the 
way of the Grave creek, Wolf creek and Cow creek val¬ 
leys and the Canyon. This route was examined last year 
by the party under the charge of Mr, Elliot, the level and 
transit being applied to every part of the line, and the 
maximum of grades found to be about 80 feet per mile.— 
The country between the Rogue river and Umpqua val¬ 
leys is made up of low and irregular ridges and broken 
hills, and necessarily requires many curves to “work” a 
railroad line through them. The grade from the summit 
of the Canyon, a north course, for eight miles would be 
nearly 100 feet per mile, and this is the highest grade on 
the whole route. The cost of constructing a railroad on 
this part of the line will be fully equal to the cost of con¬ 
struction on the Siskiyou mountains. An other route 
proposed by which to pass from the Rogue river to the 



\ 


4 

Umpqua valley, is that leaving the Rogue river near the 
mouth of Big Butte creek and passing up Trail creek on 
the general line of the old" Kearney trail, and over the di¬ 
vide and down a branch of the south fork of the Umpqua 
river,coming into the main valley at the mouth of Myrtle 
creek. For want of time I could not examine this route 
with the instruments, but members of the engineer’s party 
who had been over the route, report the grade very easy, 
the route almost destitute of rock cuttings, and plenty of 
good timber. I believe this route will make a saving of 
nearly twenty miles in distance over the other route, and 
if equally favorable for the construction of the road would 
save not less than $1,500,000 in the cost of construction. 
Another route from Rogue river valley, is to leave Rogue 
river at Minersville, passing up Evans creek about four 
miles, thence up Ditch creek, following the general line of 
the ElifF trail through to the upper Cow creek valley near 
the south end of the Canyon. This route would avoid the 
Cow creek hills almost entirely. Once in the Umpqua 
valley and no further trouble, as to grade, is encountered 
until we reach the Calapooia mountains. This seems im¬ 
probable to those who have only seen the Umpqua valley 
from the top of the stage coach, or in passing along the 
stage road. The Umpqua valley appears to the traveler 
as a succession of many small valleys separated by low 
hills, and this is partially the case; but all these small 
valleys, upon examination, are found to connect with each 
other on the same plane. This being the case, the engin¬ 
eer has no more trouble in working a line of railroad 
through this valley than in passing through any other 
level country. What is known as the “Robert’s Hill” in 
the valley can be crossed east of the present stage road, 
on a moderate grade, or the river can be followed around 
on the level. There is but little grade, but few curves 
and not many side hill cuttings in passing through the 


5 


Umpqua valley from Canyonville to the entrances to the 
Applegate and Pass creek passes in the Calapooia 
mountains. 

PASSES IN THE CALAPOOIA MOUNTAIN'S. 

In September, 1863, in company with Mr. Pollay, a 
railroad engineer of large experience, I carefully examined 
the “Pass creek” pass through the Calapooias, leading 
from the Umpqua valley to the head of the Willamette 
valley. The level and transit was applied to every foot of 
its length, so that both curves and grade could be accu¬ 
rately determined. The lowest grade that can be obtained 
in this pass is not less than 80 feet per mile. The pass is 
somewhat crooked compelling several sharp curves, and 
from the gorge-like character of the pass the curvature 
cannot be remedied. • The pass is comparatively a low 
one, and in all respects, except the high grade in part of it 
and sharp curves in another part, it is an excellent one.— 
It is amply supplied with timber and stone, and the exca¬ 
vations would not be great. It possesses the advantage of 
enteriug the Willamette valley at its very head, which 
would be a very material one, were it not for the tremeu- 
duous freshets that flood that part of the valley every 
Spring. 

In January of this year I made a personal exploration of 
the then newly discovered “Applegate Pass” in the Cala¬ 
pooias being a pass located to the west of the stage road (the 
Pass creek pass being east of the road) and running almost 
on a straight line from one valley to the other—from the 
Umpqua to the Siuslaw, or part of the great Willamette 
valley. (This pass was discovered by the old pioneer and 
distinguished explorer, the lion. Jesse Applegate.) From 
the observations then made I was satisfied that the Apple- 
gate pass was superior in every respect, for the purposes 
of a railroad to the Pass creek pass; and in June of this 


6 


year, when the surveying party commenced operations in 
the field, they commenced at Oakland in the Umpqua val¬ 
ley and passed through this new pass, and soon determined 
■by an actual survey the correctness of my former ob¬ 
servations. 

In leaving Pass creek to go through the Applegate pass 
the line pursues the little valley of Rock creek to the 
summit of the pass, on nearly a straight line* running a 
little east of north; and the descent from the summit to 
the Siuslaw on the north side of the mountains, is in the 
same direction and about the same grade, which will not 
exceed 65 feet to the mile, on the constructed line, on 
ejther slope. The grade oil both slopes is regular and the 
excavation will be slight—timber abundant, and of an ex¬ 
cellent quality. As a railroad pass it is superior to the 
Pass creek pass, in having less distance in the mountains* 
and in being destitute of curves and having fifteen feet 
less grade, which is a very great advantage when the 
grade gets above sixty feet to the mile. It has not only 
these advantages, but in endeavoring to reach, say the city 
of Salem, from the Umpqua valley, this new pass presents 
a shorter and much straighter line—saving about fifteen 
miles. With these unmistakable advantages the Apple- 
gate pass recommends itself. 

It is claimed by some of the citizens of Eugene City, 
that by surveying a line through the Applegate pass, I 
have avoided their town and the whole of the upper end 
of the Willamette valley, all of which they claim resulted 
from getting into the wrong pass. Whatever may have 
been the effect of doing so, I certainly had no such object 
in view. It was neither my desire nor purpose to run to 
or avoid any particular town, but to discover the nearest 
and best route for the projected road. Having, last year, 
surveyed the line through the Pass creek ^ass, and down 


7 


the Willamette through Eugene to Corvallis, and having 
all the field notes and maps of that survey in my posses¬ 
sion, I could have no object in going over the same 
ground again, especially when the friends of a new route 
were clamoring for an examination of its claims. Eugene 
City can not be overlooked by any company in the final 
decision, especially as it is about as favorably located in re¬ 
lation to one pass as the other. 

ROUTE THROUGH THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY. 

Thefirst preliminary line, run with level and transit 
entirely through the Willamette valley, commences at the 
North end of the Applegate Pass; from thence a north¬ 
easterly course to the crossing of Siuselaw creek—culvert 
12 ft.; thence north to Stony Point—grade, almostnothing; 
thence, on a curve west of north, to Cayote creek—bridge 
30 feet; thence north to a crossing of Coyote creek, just 
belovv the forks—bridge 50 feet, with light embankments 
on each side; thence* west of north, following the most 0 
eligible ground ulong the creek, crossing again near Dr. 
Hemingway’s; thence east of north to the main Willamette 
valley, striking it above the mouth of Spencer creek; 
thence west of North over level ground, to the crossing of 
Long Tom, near Duckworth’s—bridge about 70 feet, and 
banks good; thence north to Bear creek, passing over a 
marsh easily crossed with light embankments, and two or 
three culverts; same course to' the crossing of a small 
crfcek, near Ferguson’s ; thence north to the town of Mon¬ 
roe ; thence on a north-east course to the town of Corval¬ 
lis, over a level country; thence north-east to Soap creek 
—bridge, 50 feet; thence north to the Luckiamutc river 
—bridge 150 feet; thence north to the La Creole—bridge 
75 feet; thence north, through the Fulkison Gap to a 
small creek near Amity; thence north, bearing west, to 
the South Yamhill river—bridge 200 feet; thence on a 


8 


north course to the Wapatoo lake; thence north-east across 
Tualatin Plains, crossing the forks of the Tualatin river 
with a bridge of 50 feet span at each crossing, to the Cor¬ 
nelius pass in the Scappoose mountains ; thence south 
through said pass with a grade of about 40 feet per mile, 
while in the mountain pass, six miles in length, to the 
Columbia river slough ; thence north, crossing Scappoose 
creek to St. Helens, on the Columbia river. 

From Applegate Pass to the foot of the Scappoose 
mountains, the line is nearly straight, and for the whole 
distance of 120 miles between these two points, there is 
not a single mile with a grade exceeding fifteen feet. This 

is, I think, the shortest, and as far as cost of construction, 
safety of the road and trains thereon when the road is con¬ 
structed, and the economical working of it, is concerned, 
the best route through the Willamette valley. I do not 
desire to be understood that this is the shortest route to a 
steamship landing, because it is not—a line Can be located 
from the head of the valley to the City of Portland which 
would be at least twenty miles the shortest line, but it 
would be of no account to a large portion af Yamhill and 
the whole of Washington counties. And neither would 
the line first described be of much use to either Linn or 
Marion counties, and of no use to Clackamas. It follows, 
then, that, in order to as perfectly accommodate and com¬ 
pletely control the local trade of the Willamette valley as 
possible, a deviation must be made from the first line. 

Mr. Elliott recommended the line passing through the 
Pass creek pass (and at that time he was unaware of the 
existence of the Applegate pass) down the Willamette 
river, through Eugene city, crossing the Willamette 
river at Corvallis, then in nearly a direct line through 
Albany, Salem, Oregon City, and on to Portland. This 
route, however, is open to the same objections as others— 

it, too, fails to accommodate the whole valley—leaving 


9 


Washington, Yamhill and a large part of Polk county 
without the benefits of the road. The road cannot be 
made to run on both sides of the river, and people will not 
expect that; and besides that, a substantial railroad bridge 
across the Willamette, that will not interfere with steam¬ 
boat navigation will cost fully $300,000. From my obser¬ 
vation and examination of the topography of the valley, 
and its depots of trade, I think a line can be located on 
the west side of the river, and touching it sufficiently of¬ 
ten to accommodate the great majority of the trade and 
travel of the valley ; and with that view I had a prelimin¬ 
ary survey made of such a line, and find that the route, 
although a little longer (two miles and a halt) and not ex¬ 
actly straight, is otherwise advantageous anjl unobjection¬ 
able. This matter, however, ought to be made to depend 
somewhat on the subscriptions to the capital stock; for 
where the difference in rival routes is not very material to 
the company, its location ought, to some extent be decided 
by the aid offered to the enterprise on the different routes. 

For a terminus, the city of Portland may be approached 
from the valley by three different routes: 1st—By the 
west bank of the Willamette river crossing at the Falls.-;- 
2nd—By the way of Sucker Lake and the west bank of 
the river below Oswego. 3d—By the way of the Cornelius 
Pass and the west bank of the river below Portland. I have 
personally examined all of these routes, and know them to be 
available for the uses of a railroad; but by either route the 
cost of construction is greatly increased over that of the 
cost per mile in the valley. 

COST OF CONSTRUCTION. 

In making up the estimate of the cost of construction 
for the lesser difficult portion of the line, I have been gov¬ 
erned somewhat by the cost of railroads in other portions 
of the country over similar favorable ground, and the 


10 


present ruling prices of railroad iron and material, and 
the cost of locomotives, cars, shops and equipments. In 
making the estimate, I have been aided by gentlemen of 
large experience in the construction of railroads in Cali¬ 
fornia and believe that the estimates may be relied upon. 
From the summit of the Siskiyou mountains (where it is 
proposed to connect with the enterprise of the California 
and Oregon railroad company) to Ashland, a distance of 
twenty-six miles, at an average cost of $80,000 per mile.— 
From Ashland to Hunter’s Ferry, a distance ot thirty-eight 
miles, at an average cost of $40,000 per mile. From Hun¬ 
ter’s Ferry to head of Canyon, a distance of 38 miles, at 
an average cost of $60,000 per mile. From the head of 
Canyon to Canyonville,a distance of twelve miles, at an aver¬ 
age cost of $80,000 per mile. From Canyonville to Rose- 
burg, a distance of thirty-one miles, at an average cost of 
$40,000 per mile. From Roseburgto the head of the ‘Wil¬ 
lamette valley, a distance of fifty miles, at an average cost 
of $40,000 per mile. From the head of Willamette valley 
to navigable waters of Columbia river, a distance of 130 
miles, at an average cost of $35,000 per mile. 

•The total cost of this projected enterprise, in the State 
of Oregon, would be in round numbers about $15,000,000. 

TRAFFIC AND EARNINGS OF THE ROAD. 

This enterprise appears so entirely visionary to some 
people of sense and discrimination, that they will not give 
it a fair hearing; and others oppose it from motives of 
supposed personal interest. Of the first class I only ask a 
fair hearing that they may be convinced ; and to the sec¬ 
ond, I reply that a man’s interests must be extremely local 
if they will be damaged by the construction of a railroad 
in any direction—railroads always enhance the value q£ 
real estate, no matter where situated—they never depre¬ 
ciate it. 


11 


A railroad from Portland or the Columbia river south to 
the summit of the Siskiyous, and there to stop, would in¬ 
deed be a profitless concern. But a road connecting the 
Central Pacific Railroad in California with the Columbia 
river and Puget Sound is quite another affair, and in this 
light only do I propose to call the attention of the public, 
of Members of Congress, and of capitalists to this en¬ 
terprise. 

Such an enterprise has the following advantages : 

1st. It runs through and connects with each other and with 
the Pacific ocean at either end, all the great valleys and grain¬ 
growing districts on the Pacific coast. 

2nd. It is located on the direct line of the great coasi-wisc 
trade and travel that is now rapidly springing into existence. 

3 d. It will be the only internal mountain-defended, military 
road, safe from the raids of an enemy, on which the nation and 
the Amende an communities on the Pacific, could rely for the 
speedy transportation of troops and munitions of war, in case 
of an invasion by foreign nations. 

4 th. When constructed, it would connect the States of Oregon 
Idaho, Washington, and British Columbia and Vancouver 
Island on the north, with the States of California, JYevada and 
the Atlantic States on the South, and transport all the travel and 
the great majority of the freight between these States. 

bth. It would be the only line running through the only coun¬ 
try in the world combining the three great resources of wealth — 
great agricultural resources, unlimited water power for manu¬ 
factures, and great forests of good timber with inexhaustible 
mines of the useful and precious metals. 

6th. In all these advantages, this enterprise, from the nature, 
of the country, could never have a rival line competing 
FOR ITS BUSINESS. 

But, to be more particular, what would be the probable 


12 


traffic and earnings of the whole line of 650 miles from 
Marysville, California, to the Columbia river? 

It has been estimated by eminent and unquestionably 
good railroad authority in the United States, that for every 
acre of good agricultural land, the exports of which, to 
and from, were controlled by the construction of a railroad, 
one ton of freight per annum for the railroad, might be 
depended upon. In order that no one can quarrel with 
our figures or estimates, I will, in the present instance, 
estimate it at only one-fourth of a ton per acre, per annum. 

Row this projected enterprise will control —absolutely 
control —the freight to an from not an acre less than 6,000,- 
000 acres of good land, and probably nearer sixteen million 
than six. It would control the freight of a large portion 
of the Sacramento valley, which valley alone contains 
20,000,000 acres arable land ; the freight of Scotts’ valley, 
Shasta valley; pass near enough to control 1,000,000 acres 
in the Klamath basin (good land); all of Rogue river val¬ 
ley, Illinois valley, Umpqua valley, and the great Willam¬ 
ette valley, with all the smaller valleys adjoining. And 
what is very remarkable, all these valleys named lie on an 
almost straight line with each other. Applying our esti¬ 
mate to six million acres, only, and we have for our road, 
as freight from agricultural population and resources only, 
(with the usual intermixture of mechanics, manufactures, 
towns, &c.), 1,500,000 tons per annum. In order to equal¬ 
ize the traffic, and make a calculation upon freight passing 
over the whole line, it would be proper to divide the last 
figures by two, but to be generous to the doubting, we will 
divide by three, and make this item of freight average 
500,000 tons to the entire line—or call it through freight, 
although part of it only would be such in point of fact. 
For this 500,000 tons of freight, it would seem that ten 
dollars per ton for carrying the same would be a low price 
—at least a reasonable price—when we reflect that the 


13 


ocean steamers are now charging from seven to ten dol¬ 
lars per ton, for carrying freight from San Francisco to 
Portland, and that for delivering freight from San Fran¬ 
cisco and Portland to the different points along the pro¬ 
posed road, it costs all the way from ten dollars to one hun- s' 
dred and sixty dollars per ton, owing to the distance and 
location. At ten dollars per ton, this 500,000 tons of 
freight would produce an annual income of $5,000,000, 
on agricultural freights, and freights therewith nec¬ 
essarily connected. To this class of freights must 
be added those derived from the various mines of 
silver, copper, lead, iron and coal, existing along the line 
of the road. Of this there can be at this time only an 
approximate estimate. That it will be very large.jnust 
appear on even a cursory view. In Shasta countyfOali- 
fornia, there*are already many good mines of silver and 
copper now shipping ore by hauling a long distance to the 
Sacramento river, but which would go to this railroad, 
when constructed. There is also in Shasta county immense 
beds of the best iron ore, which would be developed by 
this road. In Siskiyou county, California, there are also 
valuable mines of copper which are now shipping ore by 
hauling a long distance, but which would go to this road 
upon its construction. In Jackson and Josephine coun¬ 
ties, Oregon, there have been discovered already many val¬ 
uable mines of copper, and extensive ledges and quarries 
of the finest marble, which, for proper development are 
awaiting and must wait for railroad transportation to the 
sea-coast. One of these mines—(the “ Queen of Bronze,” 
in Josephine county, and which is noticed more fully in 
“The Wealth and Resources of Oregon”) has offered to 
furnish 500 tons of freight per month, to a railroad at 
twenty Jive dollars per ton. When we consider that there is 
in southern Oregon accessible to the facilities to be afforded 
by this projected road, many such mines as the “Queen of 

9 


14 


Bronze ” their freight patronage mounts up to enormous 
figures. There are also in Jackson county extensive veins 
of coal, and another mountain of iron ore now worthless 
for the want of railroad transportation, but which would 
become of immense value when such transportation is 
afforded. Some idea of the value of good copper and iron 
mines is afforded by a statement lately made in an article 
published in the American Railroad Journal, where its 
author, in discussing the value of the mines of iron in the 
Lake Superior region, makes the statement that the 
freights of one good iron mine will pay a handsome dividend 
on the cost of constructing fifty miles of railroad , in order to 
develop the mine. There are also extensive veins of coal 
in the Calapooia mountains, directly on the line of this 
roadywhich would be developed by its construction. In 
summing up the prospective freights from alt these mines 
it would not be overestimating it to say that they will pro¬ 
duce as much freight as the larms and towns ; but to add 
something on their account we will say that they will only 
produce one fifth as much, or 100,000 tons, which, at ten 
dollars per .ton would make $1,000,000 more revenue. To 
thi must be added the freights on lumber, as it a notorious 
fact that the Sacramento valley is destitute of lumbering 
timber; and the Willamette valley is so in many places, 
the wants of which, in both places, would be fully sup¬ 
plied by this road. As lumber freights are always lower 
than other freights, and vastly greater in amount, propor- 
tionably, I estimate the amount to be carried by this road 
at 50,000 tons annually, at five dollars per ton, makes 
$256,000. The above items may all be classed as local 
freights, as they are all originated on and along the line 
of the road, and exclusively controlled by it. To those 
must be added what is known and designated as “through 
fast freights.” On this road this item w r ould be made up 
of dry goods purehased in San Francisco, and destined for 


15 


the Columbia river, Idaho, Washington and British Colnm* 
bia, California and tropical fruits destined for the ‘‘North,’’ 
and many other articles from the metropolitan stores of 
San Francisco, which would prefer speedy and safe trans¬ 
portation ; and to secure that, save insurance and the dan¬ 
gers and delays of ocean navigation, would take the rail¬ 
road. This item is low at 50,000 tons, and by the rapid 
development of the country would soon reach 100,000 
tons. Ten dollars per ton on 50,000 tons would make 
$500,000. To the freights we must add the passenger 
fares, mail and express earnings. To properly estimate 
the travel on the road, we must consider first what will be 
local travel, and second, what amount will be received from 
through passenger travel; and this second item involves 
the consideration of the development and population of 
the Pacific States and Territories, and British Columbia, 
seven or eight years hence, when the whole line shall have 
been completed, and this may be prefaced with the remark 
that no people in the world travel so much as the Ameri¬ 
cans on the Pacific coast. As to local travel, the Senate 
Committee on Corporations in the Oregon Legislature, for 
this year, in considering the question of a division of one 
hundred miles of railroad through the Willamette valley, 
[See Report] estimated the travel thereon at $150,000 per 
annum. This is of course local, and contemplates 
travel only between the termini of this division, and the 
intermediate points. T. D. Judah, Esq.‘ Chief Engineer, 
of the Central Pacific railroad, [he is now dead] estimated 
the income on local passenger fares on the first twenty-five 
miles of that road at over $100,000; and I think that for 
travel originated ’on and along the line of this road and 
controlled by it, $1,000 per mile, or $650,000 for the whole 
line, would not be an unsafe estimate. For an estimate 
on through travel, we already have as data the facts that 
the California Stage Company transport over this line 


16 


about one hundred through passengers per month, and 
that the ocean steamers and sailing vessels plying between 
San Francisco and the Columbia river transport about 
1,000 passengers per month, which would all go over this 
line, when a road is built. In the course of eight years, 
as soon, probably, as this road could be completed through, 
the Pacific States and Territories will have, at the present 
rate of growth and influx of population, trebled their pop¬ 
ulation, and quadrupled their wealth and their travelers. 
Rapidly accumulating evidence of the vast mineral wealth 
of this coast, its unequalled climate ; war, trouble, and con¬ 
fusion in the Atlantic States, and continued peace here, 
and many other matters combine to justify the above state¬ 
ment. Placing, then, the through passengers at 4,400 per 
month, or, in round numbers, 50,000 for the first year, and 
the passenger fare at only thirty dollars, we have §1,500,- 
000 passenger travel; and to this may be added §300,000 
for mails and express. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Estimated earnings of. the California and Oregon Railroad from 
Marysville , California , to the Columbia, river , Oregon : 

To 500,000 tons local freight (exclusive of 


freight from mines) @ §10 per ton.§5,000,000 

100,000 tons of freight from mines @ §10 
per ton. 1,000,000 


“ 50,000 tons of freight on lumber @ §5 per 

ton.. 250,000 

“ 50,000 tons through fast freight @ §10 per 


ton . 500,000 

“ local passengers fares. 650,000 

“ 50,000 through passengers @ §30. 1,500,000 

“ mails and express. 300,000 


Total earnings per annum.§9,200,000 










17 


From this deduct: 

Running expenses 650 miles@$4,000 per mile. .$2,600,000 


Annual repairs. 1,000,000 

Total expenses.$3,600,000 

Nett earnings.$5,600,000 


which is 18$ per centum on thirty millions of dollars—the 
estimated cost of construction of the whole line. This is 
not so flattering a showing as is generally made for new 
roads. It is not intended to he. It is not near so good a 
showing as was made by Mr. Judah for the Central Pacific 
railroad, and while he had good and sufficient reasons to 
sustain his estimate, we have equally good reasons, and of¬ 
fer them to support a much lower estimate. There are 
just as mapy reasons to sustain an estimate paying 25 per 
cent, net profits, as there is to sustain the one we, have 
made. We have cut down our figures in every direction, 
so that when the result was ascertained, no one acting 
thereon would be deceived. High as this rate per cent, 
profits on thirty millions may appear to some people, it 
will not generally be esteemed a paying investment in a 
country where money commands two per cent, per month 
to private borrowers. Yet even five per cent, paying 
bonds or stocks,when the security is undoubted, is consid¬ 
ered in the New York, London and Paris money markets, 
as a very fine investment; and 18 per cent, paying stock 
ought to be considered a good investment by the persons 
whose real estate—much of it now worth nothing—would 
be enhanced in value three or four hundred per cent,— 
land, not worth five dollars per acre now, brought up to 
twenty--five and fifty dollars per acre. 

In order that all the friends and supporters of this pro¬ 
posed road, may have a better idea about the earnings of 
railroads, and be satisfied that our estimates are not too high 
we add the following statement of earnings of different 






18 


roads as taken from the official reports of the different 
companies, and monthly statements made to the American 
Railroad Journal , and published by that journal for the 
benefit of Eastern bondholders: 

The Sacramento Valley (Cal.) road—a little short 
line 22J miles in length running from Sac- 
mento City out to the foothills of El Dorado 

county, earned in 1863...$ 352,000 

The Illinois Central—with a line something over 
600 miles in length, having to compete with 
the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and Illi¬ 
nois canal, and several lines of railroad, 

earned in the month of August last. 585,434 

The Michigan Central (Michigan) with a line of 
329 miles, and running between and com¬ 
peting with the Milwaukie and Detroit road 


and the Michigan Southern road, and the 
navigation on the lakes, earned in the month 

of August last.,. 346,781 

The Michigan Southern, mentioned above, earn- • 

ed in same time... 355,264 

The Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtubula road 
(Ohio) operating only 96 miles of road, and 
depending on local business exclusively, 
earned in 1863. 2,066,623 


I might add hundreds more to the list, if it were neces¬ 
sary. 

I here insert the able and valuable report made by the 
Senate Committee on Corporations, through the lion. Jas. 
M. Pyle, their Chairman, to the late session of the Oregon 
Legislature, on this subject. 







REPORT 


Mil. President : The Senate Committee on Corporations, to whom was referred 
R. li. No. 1 i, entitled k * A iiill providing for tlie disposition of the proceeds of the 
public lauds donated to this State for internal improvements, fitc would respect¬ 
fully submit the following report: 

lour committee consider that the proposi ion to diverteibher tlie proceeds of said 
500,000acres ol laud, or tlie ime of the said proceeds from tlie common school fund 
as provided in the constitution of the State of Oregon, would violate tliu spirit, if 
not tlie letter, of said constitution. And they consider it to be the dury of tno leg¬ 
islature to preserve the interest or use of said fu i 1 inviolate for the oo a n ►.» suit > >1 
fund : wherefore they recommend that Senate Hill No. 11, he iu.ledui elv p Mt.pnieJ, 
and herewith submit a substitute hill, an 1 recommend taut the hill piss, o.fenng the 
following reasons in support of the sa ne 

file ipiestion of a railroad through the Willamette, IT npqprt an 1 It >gue river 
valleys, aiut connecting the States of Oregon an 1 O »lifimia, uas been q ute freely 
discussed during the p ut ye tr, a 1 1 especially d iring t he p i«L s t n ner, an 1 much 
imp limit information has been gathered relating to tbe subject; and before this 
legislature will adopt any legislation hearing upon the quest ion, it will doubtless bo 
necessary to lay tlie important and material facte necessary to a proper understand¬ 
ing of tlie enterprise, fully before the Senate, and to that end the committee haa 
directed itB labors. 

That a railroad through the above named valleys is badly needed by the farmer 
and producer, must tie obvious to the most careless observer; ami the bare mention 
ol a few bids is amply sutlicieni to set it forth in the strongest light. 

During the few mouths past, while wheat, was selling in San Francisco at ^2 per 
bushel, the average price in the districts above alluded to was about 75 cents per 
bushel, thus taking oil $i ffo from tlie value of a bushel of wheat in San Francisco 
mid dividing it up between the teamsters, steam boat and steamship monopolies, 
middle men. warehouse men, .speculators and giving the producer hut three 

eighths of ti.e fun Francisco price oi wheat,for tlie rent of his land, and the labor 
of himself, teams and machines. The same inequality of prices will he found to 
prevail in tlie c.ale of all other articles of produce. And it can never be otherwise 
so long as the present state ol affairs continues. Tl:« farmer in Ueuton, bane, Linn 
or any other of the great agricultural com ties, must, in order to sell his produce, 
either haul it to Portland, a distance varying from tvven’y live to one hundred ana 
tifiY-iniles, or await the floods of the wet wilier,and then draw it through tbo mud 
to tiie river, to go by si earn boat. And it.,is extremely iuteicsting to a farmer to 
truce hie wheal, destined for tlie East Indian or European markets, through its 
many changes. If it is shipped at Salem, it goes by steamboat to (Janonali; it is 
tl.eic transferred t<> the railroad around the Falls; passing over tine road it. is 
shipped at Oiegon City lor Portland ; at Portland it is warehoused and reshipped 
to >un Francisco; at van' Francisco, it is warehoused and reshjpped toX*iverpool 
or other fmeign mai ket; and in exchange for this wbeut, comes back tho merchan¬ 
dise which 1ms to pass through nil these shippings, reshippings, wurebbiysiags, 
handlings &c.; and the great wonder is that against ail these adverse oireum- 
Huuces, the Oiegon farmer has been ablf to hold hie own,and raise and educate his 
family. In Southern Oregon, the obstacle.! to the exportation of- ugvicukuntl pro¬ 
ducts are so great as to amount to a complete embargo ; and such must forever coo- 
tinne the condition of that country, at ie at so far iis the most profitable part of tbo 
farmer’s labor is concerned, until the country is tapped by a railroad loading either, 
to Portland or Ran Francisco. As further illustrating the necessity of a railroad, 
connection to the people of Southern Oregon, we may ment ; on the fact that the 
inhabitants of Josephine and Jach.-on counties have in a single year paidocitaa 
freight money on l.dOh tone of merchandise impelled the sum of $i7D,700. This 


Thu Substitute Hill previdet. for the levying of a tax of one mill on the dollar oo 
all property in the State, the pro*..feds of wlnali arc to bo applied exclusively to the 
payment of interest ou the twustru:tioa bonds of the Railroad Oauipany. It hits 
become a law. 

(JAW-4* 





20 


W e expenditure would doubtless be reduced fully three-fourth*. upon the con¬ 
struction of a railroad to the Rogue river valley from i ortlaud. 

These are some of the burdens that the farmers of Oregon are now struggling: 
under for the want of the proper means of transporting their products to a certain 
market. That a railroad through the districts named would entirely remove these 
burdens, there cm. be no doubt. Hail roads furnish sate, speedy , ecu tain and ccon* 
•unical transportation, at all times. They depend on neither floods or tides, j t all 
-stations on the line, there is always a large aud commodious warehouse belonging 
■o-the railroad companv, and at whicli free storage toi a leasouable length 01 time 
iia* always furnished to the tanner, and .troni which his w heat, iloui, 01 Lhlou, &C.,- 
is loaded into the freight cars without charge ; and at the terminus a^ain, at the 
<d,jp lundiii"- or dock,'the same freight is speedily transfer!ed by the steam engine 
*o the .clipper ship free of charge, all of which would reduce the transportation- 
charges fully three fourths from the present rates. 

The direct pecuniary advantages of a railroad through Oregon may be briefly 
j iU moit; clearly set forth by u little calculation. Statistics chi dully piopnied by 
reliable men show that Polk county has this year produced one million bushels of 
wheat Suppose that 000,W>0 bushels of this crop could be spared to the San Fran* 
r'«co market At the prices heretofore prevailing since harvest, tins was worth m- 
Polk county, about 75 cents per bushel, or f lolUtOU. li tlieie had been u railroad 
ihroiiMi Polk county to steamship landing, this wheat would have sold in Polk 
county readily, for |l 50 per pushel, or $000,ObU. making a clear gain of $-150,bbO to* 
Polk county, on a single crop of wheat, anu leaving a margin of *>U cents per 
] )nK lr e l to transport the wheat to thm Francisco—and ad tne direct result of railroad 
t nnsoortatiou. This calculation might be applied to wool, bacon, lard, oats, aud 
esWmllv to the article of hay. Oregon cun ship no hay for want of transportation,, 
while -wh have the ability and can produce the best hay in the world, and at a very 
large profit, if it could be cheaply transported to Portland. _ 

Owing to these burdens on Oregon farming, it »s a notorious fact that California. 
; s now importing grain for feed from the Atlantic States, cheaper than she can gojj. 
i t from the granaries of her neighbor Oregon. Some persons are disposed to berate 
Wd belittle Oregon farmers for their wan of energy m not supplying this Sum 
Prstnen-co demand at such handsome figures, aud our papers take up and echo the 
,.,.y “ jfo energy, r.o industry,” c.ami while it is uut that Oregon farmers are 
no better than they ought to be, it is not true that they will be found lacking energy 
»nd industry to supply San Francisco or any other good market, when the means 
for doing so is afforded them, so they can*compete on an equal footing with the 
farmers of California or the Eastern Mates. 

Shine pershti* contend that there is no umiket.for Oregon produce, and that there- 
foie a railroad, could m t help the Oregon fainter, as it would not bring him a better 
inhrket than he now has. Tiiis is easily shewn to fie an error, for,.in addition to 
Off 1 «>ood home markets that w ould be eveutaUy built up in large manulaciurinr 


'owns tl;nt 


dirge foreign demand 


will follow the const met ion of 
for the ayriculuu. 


a railroad, there is now already a very 

uti'Mi juit-itju uciuuuj .. products .of the Pacific coast, whiuh m 

•Voudlv increasing, ami i.i the China, Japan, fkiiid w ieh island, and Australian trade 
.( will"become immense. We copy from the Market Review,” of tbefcan ITan- 
•jsCti liidletiu, under date of July 11, 1S15-1: 


Exports 'ftf, anJ Hour //•<■?;?, 5 Son /•' rancieco, Jn m Jut-, vary tit, tv 

Jrnra 3Q/h y 186-1. 

- • Ska..wheat. lUds- floor. 


To England..... i^6. 

•To China.-.*. 0~.7<~ Ad,(ilk! 

To Ja pau. • b-7 

To Australia.— * ! -... 57,558 J&ivOO 

- To Vietoria. V. 1. i ."l... UliU 1 A-S-IU 

To Sandwich Islands. m l.bll 

To Mexico. 15 5,7pn 

; To other countries..*. IP’b .5,5711 


Such fire the exports ol the articles, wheat and thntv, from Nan Francisco to for 
, igji market, fov Ike f5rift six months uf the present year. How much of tflm u* 
iucuou produce we aie nnablc to tell, as in the an £ laiwiseoM-xporis no :» du. is 
.jivon to Oregon for anything. Put tu mining t Lai it is all California produce, w o 
.-talc the proposition m to plain for argument, that what will pay u California 
:super willl>!so pay < n Oregon farmer, wn be U furnished equal opportunities 
As to the cost of a railroad through the valleys above mentioned, there me differ* 
.-at estimates ; but. the most reliable and m *?worthy are* undoubtedly those pro 
-.•a red.by ir.cn familiar with the burim-ss. and pm penally and intimately acquainted 









21 


the country through which ,the road is proposed. Careful estimates so pre 
i'J’ u the entire cast, ot construction and eijuipinc it of ilie li■ at division of 
* 'iiiU-s (t trough the Willamette vullev). at not exceeding $3.5,000 per utile, or 
$3,500,015(1 for the first division. ' - • • ' 

1 lii« division of 100 miles, would when constructed* not only add the cost of its-coYt- 
strnetiun f o die taxalde property on the \sser.sor.s' list, hut it wouhl certainly increase 
the value of real estate in the Willamette valley not less titan fourtben million dol 
? rrrs , to say uoihing of the increased value of the annual crops, the educating and 
jtrourevive tendencies and habits it would di.-seminate. and the new and active 
business life and energy'if. would give to the whole State. 

Sdrne persons insist that the road would not earn interest, on the cost, of its con- 
true I i an, and pay its running' exposes, and tlineforo ai y legislation we might 
adopt would ha futile and accontpligh nothing Those wlto urinft so have !>nt a lim¬ 
ited and mean idea ot the resource* of onr State/ Statistics prepared on this sub- 
jeef , iiisttfnT.lv dispel all such notions An average estimate furnished by intelligent 
business men from all parts of the Willamette valley—teamsters, merchants, inill- 
and county officers—show that the present exports and imports of this valley 
to and from Portland are to-dav not less than SO,ODD tons per amuim, and probably 
nearer 100,000 tons than the first figures; but, to be safe, we will adopt the first 
named amount as the data ot our calculation. 

At present the carrying of this «>sts in actual money (or in the time and labor of 
the tanner when be hauls it himself), about $.MI per ton. or to the whole valley the 
round sum of $l,600,0(*0. A division of 111!) miles of railroad would tr nsport the 
whole of this height, and could doit for $.5 per ton or $100,000 for the whole 
amount, thus saving to the people on the present business of the valley, the round 
sum of $1,200,000 annually. 

To [hjg $100,090 on freights, add $1.>0.000 for passenger fares, and $39,000 for 
mails (low estimates), and we have $900,000 annual e ruing- on the first lift) miles 
of road. (A coindarative estimate of the business done by the t alifoiiua railroads, 
would make the earnings of the above 100 miles fully $1,$00,000. The Sacramento 
valley railroad, only 22j miles in length, earned last year $352,000. 

Of the $000,000 earned, about -10 per cent, would be expended in fi nning 
expenses, and 10 percent, on annual repairs, leaving $ 100,000 to pay interest or div¬ 
idends on the cost of construction, which would just pay s per cent on $3,500,000 
(the estimated cost of construction), and this rate of interest will entitle the bonds 
or stock of tlie road to a preference in the Eastern market. 

It must, be borne in mind that this estimate is based entirely* on the present cur¬ 
rying trade of the valley, now done by teams, and steamboats at high water, and 
no estimate is made upon or for tile increased business of the country* which the 
road would produce, and which might safely be set down at (considering the pres 
cut condition of the country) three or smr hundred per cent increase,; and in the 
estimate, iilso, there is no allowance for the transportation of a single ton of hay, 
a single piece of timber, or a single pound of coal, which, upon the construction of 
the proposed road, would -enter into the freight bills, by tens of thousands of tons. 

From these considerations we look upon the proposed road not only as a legiti¬ 
mate business paying enterprise, but as h desirable and profitable investment. 


STATE AID. 

Upon the proposition of Slate aid ton railroad, there cun be no well founded 
objection, wi long as the aid proposed is such that we may give without infringing 
upon tiic provisions of the constitution. Nearly all the States of the Union have 
aided their railroads cither with bonds or land, and in all cus-s to the great benefit, 
of the State. The Stale of Minnesota has loaned its credit to aid in constructing 
railroads in that Stale to the amount of $24,000,000 in State bonds. Viiginia gave 
$1,000,000 to thiee comj aides. Missouri lists loaned its credit to railroads to the 
amount of $!7,t;5t> f OwO. Ohio has invested many mil’ions m the. com-unction of 
canals and improvements. California has agreed r ■> pay the interest annually accru¬ 
ing on $500,0'0 of the Central Pacific R It. bonds. So with till the Western States, 
mid it i.- imurssury to enumerate precedents. 

The 1 1 ] 11 l.ciewith reported providing aid fora road through the Willamette valley 
is. although the aid is small the best inducement llmt the State can now oiler 
While it proposes a tax upon the whole State, y 1 1 it is to lie home in mind that the 
tax cannot be levied until the railroad company has expended near a million dollars 
in the State, cud put in actual operation iwent v miles of us road, so that when the 
tax is levied the const ruction of the road may be deemed u certainty, which, when 


99 


completed, will add taxes to the treasury in amount greatly exceeding what we 
jmy out. In addition to this, tho return of the money loaned with six per cent. 

interest added, is secured. , , „ , , ,u: B 

The particular location and extent of the road is not defined, and we think this 
should he leit Jo the company that. will undertake to construct the mad. A he) wilt 
have to tarnish the great majority of the capital, and having the greater interest amt 
the best means of knowing the proper l-cation, will nudouhtediy locate it tor the 
best interests of the trade and travel of the country It will be constructed the hun¬ 
dred miles and as much further as it will be profitable to do so. £ao legislation can 
induce men to build a road where it will not pay. . . . , , 

We think the bill should receive the support of every person desiring the devel¬ 
opment of the resources of the State, and the prosperity of the whole people. 

i) AiVi IliO i’l. i l Lil j. 

Chairman Covimittec on Corporations. 


4 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 


But we are told that the country through Southern 
Oregon and Northern California is too sparsely populated 
to support a railroad. That such is the case now is readily 
admitted, and that such will always continue to he the 
case until a railroad is projected through these sections, is 
equally true, and the very reason that these sections now do 
contain only a sparse population, is for the want of the 
railroad transportation we are advocating. Did it ever oc¬ 
cur to such objectors, that many railroads have been laid 
out and located in the States of Illinois, Iowa, Michigan* 
Minnesota, Wisconsin and Texas, through districts of 
country as large and extensive asL Southern Oregon and 
Northern California, where nobody <xt all lived , at the time of 
such location. These roads were located, and their con¬ 
struction commenced, and as they penetrated the prairies 
and forests, the actual settler followed, took up his perma¬ 
nent home, in advance of the iron horse, but upon the 
faith of his coming; and thus each depending on the 
other, the railroad has created towns and cities and great 
Stitei, with a rapidity and prosperity unexampled in the 
history of the world. Make it sure that a railroad will 
sooner or later pass through Southern Oregon and North¬ 
ern California, and thousands of emigrants will crowd into 
and settle in all the many valleys there, and by the time 
the road is finished, there can be no complaint of a sparse 
population. Let any one desiring to investigate the sub¬ 
ject, compare the available resources for traffic on the line 
of this proposed road, and those on the lines of the rail¬ 
road i in the New England States. Take the six States of 


Maine, New. Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode 
Island and Connecticut—count their arable acres and 
their miles of railway, and then compare with Oregon and 
California. These States have had hundreds of years to 
improve every acre susceptible of cultivation—they have 
clone,it; and not only done that*but they have peopled 
other States with hundreds of thousands of intelligeht and 
enterprising citizens. Of the whole area of New England 
—the whole six States , above-only 12,118,902 acres have 
as yet been brought within the category of improved 
lands—only three ancl-five tenths per cent, of its surface. 
The climate and soil along the line of our road is far su- 
perior to any portion of New' England, while the facilities 
for manufactures and commerce is fully equal to theirs.— 
Your railroad when constructed will have the exclusive' 
control of the resources and productions of about as many 
acres of arable land as Jheir is in all New England, while 
it will develop an incalculable amount of mineral wealth 
never dreamed of in those States.* On the line of your 
road, or the country whose wealth and productions it 
would control, there is not now a mile of railway, while in 
New England there is in operation now seventy railroads, 
making an aggregate mileage of four thousand , six hundred 
and sixty-five, costing one hundred and forty-seven million, two 
hundred and fifty thousand, three hundred and eiejhty-scvcn dol¬ 
lars, and nearly all of them paying dividends, from five to 
seventeen per cent. These roads, from the rugged char¬ 
acter of the surface of those States, have cost far more per 
mile than the one imdei\consideration. The.little State of 
Connecticut, having hut few more acres of arable land 

- _; . _ ■. _ ’ ♦ ■ 

*In t-pesikin.tr <>i the mines along the ionic,the gold mines were inadvertantly 
left out. Gold mines ot great value exist along and contiguous to about <1(1(1 n.ilts 
ot the route, and hundreds of guld-beaiing qnuilz veins exist along tl.e K i le, of 
my own knowledge, (as, for instance, in Jackson countv) not now wdiked. but 
winch, when machinery and the necessaries of life have*been cheapened by rail¬ 
road transportation, will be worked and yield millions of dollars. 




25 

than Linn county, Oregon, boasts its ten railroads, with 
751 miles in operation. 

To say that this country will not support a railroad, is 
to simply expose the man’s ignorance of the subject, who 
ventures'such an assertion. If the road could be built by 

V 

magic and the locomotives and cars placed thereon, in a 
single day, or as Moses made the highway over the Red 
Sea, it is very probable that the running of the*trams the 
first year would prove a losing business. It takes years to 
build a railroad, and as these years pass away after the 

commencement of the road, and as the iron horse slowly 

« 

but sprely adds mile after mile to his pathway, the busi¬ 
ness of the country improves, increases, extends and ac¬ 
commodates itself to the new order of things in a thou- 
sands ways which cannot be explained here; and ere the 
•last rail is laid, every train goes crowded with passengers, 
and every ear laden with freight. 

In the case before us, there is nothing lacking but the 
courage and energy necessary to inaugurate the enterprise. 

IMPORTANCE OF THE ROAD. 

A two years’ study of this line, and a comparison with 
all the other leading lines of railway in the United States, 
with a careful examination of the official reports of many 
of the same, has given me some opportunity to judge of 
the value of this proposed road and its available resources, 
and I sincerely believe that it will compare more favorably 
with the leading lines of the United States, than any other 
road I know of. It has a national importance greater 
than any other, save the Central Pacific. It runs through 
.and connects all the rich agricultural districts on the Pa¬ 
cific coast. It is located on the direct line of the great 
coastwise trade and travel, connecting the great ports on 
^he Pacific; and in these advantages it never can have a 
rival line. 


26 


On this subject I insert the following extract from a very 
able article written by the Hon. F. A. Chenoweth, form¬ 
erly Associate Justice of the United States courts in 
Washington Territory, and now a leading citizen of 
Oregon : 

“I have ever been of the opinion that it is the interest of 
this State to put forth efforts for a railroad connecting 1 lie 
Bay of Sari Francisco with Puget Sound, and will briefly 
state my reasons for it. This route would receive the pa¬ 
tronage of the General Government. All the reasons for 
giving aid to the road across the plains exist in force for 
aiding this road. If troops could at all times be sent to 
this coast by sea, or the isthmus, there would .he no suffi¬ 
cient reason for the government lending its aid Jo build a 
road across the continent. It must he apparent that if 
troops are sent across the continent for [imposes of de¬ 
fence, they would he useless, except at one point without 
a continuation of the road up the coast, and that this load 
would be absolutely necessary to the efficiency of troops 
in repelling attacks of foreign enemies, which can only be 
made by sea. Again there are resources all along this 
route, and the aid required would not be as much, peihaj s, 
by half as that given by the government to Luild the road 
across the plains. The portion of this road having the 
least resources along the route, is that portion from Bed 
Bluffs to the valley of Rogue river, a distance c.f 170 
miles, and yet all along this portion there is known to he 
mineral wealth—gold, silver, &c. The entire other por¬ 
tions of this route lies through as rich a country for agri¬ 
culture and manufactures as any line of road of the same 
length, perhaps, possesses on the continent. 

Again this route corrects the vastest interests—the wealth 
of California at one end, Washington Territory and Brit¬ 
ish Columbia at the other—with the treasures of the Wil¬ 
lamette and Columbia rallies in the middle. 

Again the topography of the entire route is, as a whole, 
exceeding favorable with all the materials except iron (if 
indeed that is wanting) for constructing the road. 

Again, this route is exceeding short, considering the 
great purposes, governmental and private, to be accom¬ 
plished, connecting ihrce States, and la} ping the vast le- 
sources of British Columbia. 

The State of California has done in part, and seen will 


27 


have completed, a road to Red Bluffs—then from there to 
the Southern line of Oregon is only 170 miles. From the 
Columbia' river to Puget Sound is only about sixty or 
seventy miles. This work is strictly national in its char¬ 
acter, and with these features commends itself in strong 
and irresistable terms'to the patronage of our government. 
Another road across the plains on a more northern route, 
terminating at Puget Sound, would only afford prompt 
defense at the point of termination, so that one road 
across the plains, with this road along our coast, would he 
infinitely more efficient for government puposcs, than both 
the lines across the plains, and should both lines be built 
across the plains, still this is necessary to render them use¬ 
ful and efficient for prompt defense along the entire coast 
between their termini. 

SOURCES OF v OPPOSITION. 

Portland, while she enjoys so many advantages, mainly 
derived from the ruinous position of the interior, would 
not be very ambitious for any railroad, because in the new 
state of affairs she might not, and probably would not, be 
the depot for the Willamette as well as upper Columbia. 
But yet she has among her citizens many minds with light 
sufficient to see that the onward tendency of events will 
not be arrested and forever stand still, merely because 
• Portland has not deep water and a capacious outlet to the 
ocean, for all kinds of shipping, so as to make her a suit¬ 
able terminus of the railroad. A strictly valley road is 
likely* to meet with more favor with the citizens of Port¬ 
land than the one above mentioned, for the reason that a 
road merely through the Willamette valley might termin¬ 
ate at Portland. In that event, no matter how much the 
entire country would grow, Portland would continue to 
grow and remain relatively large, and the great commer¬ 
cial emporium of the State. But a valley road is not 
what the people of the valley need. This road would only 
give them Portland for a market. They still would have 
no communication with the outward world of commerce. 
This road might not even receive great favor with other 
towns that stand in fear of the effects of the road advocated, 
but still will any one say that such a road would relieve the 
farming and other producing classes from the pressure that 
now rests upon them. 

But are not these fears mainly imaginary. While it 


28 


might change the relative position of some of the cities of 
this valley, it would be hard to really injure them. If the 
road does not go through them all they can connect theta- 
selves with the road, and when a single county shall have 
live times as much wealth as the entire valley now has, as 
will be the ease, they must have towns to do the business, 
and if they are now well located there is no reason to be¬ 
lieve that the business will ever leave them ; nor is it like¬ 
ly that the great national road connecting the bay of San 
Francisco and the waters of Puget Sound would destroy 
or injure Portland. This would depend on herself, and 
the probabilities are; that she would grow with the coun¬ 
try. Let us Iona: at it a moment. There can be no prin¬ 
cipal depot at St. Helens or Ranier, because the 
difficulty of the want of deep water is not fully 01 * nearly 
remedied. The road,cannot be made to Astoria because 
after passing over a rough country for a distance as far as 
Puget Sound, there is nothing at Astoria to justify taking 
it there. The Columbia bar will not admit the largest 
vessels, nor would the road at this place (Astoria) termin¬ 
ate in the midst of any great resources to 'support a rail¬ 
road. If this was the only way of reaching the ocean, 
that might be a reason for overcoming all these difficulties. 
But such is not the ease, because Puget Sound can be 
reached without traveling any farther than to reach Astoria 
and without passing through a rough, mountainous conn- > 
try without resources or agriculture. The country from 
Monticcllo to Olympia is quite level and rich in everything 
necessary to make it wealthy and support a dense popula¬ 
tion. On reaching Puget Sound in the vicinity of Olym¬ 
pia, there is deep water and a broad unobstructed channel 
leading out to the ocean. Here the road can have a ter¬ 
minus in the midst of resources of timber and fisheries 
that no arithmetic can adequately compute.: The com¬ 
merce of the world can flow into this Sound without dan¬ 
ger or obstruction, without pilotage or towage, and at the 
lowest rates of insurance. These waters also join on to 
Vancouver Island and British Columbia, the vast wealth 
and resources of which would contribute to sustain tliis 
road. 

Now, nothing is at once invented and made perfect. It 
might be that tliis road through Oregon would at present 
terminate at Portland, while that portion from Puget 
Sound might for the time being terminate at Monticcllo, 


29 


and the connection be made with steamers. In this way 
the jgreut trade of Portland is 'made greater. Years roll 
on, and the country rises to gr&atness, and with it, of 
course, our cities. Should a branch from any part of 
Utah Territory come down the Columbia river, it would 
terminate at the Sound. This was conceded by the gov- 
eminent engineers that surveyed the northern route under 
Governor Stevens. This, if built, could not come to Port- 
lan 1. The official reports just referred to say the road 
should cross the Columbia river at the Cascades where the 
river is narrow, full of island* and a portion not travers¬ 
able by ste imboits—keeping down the Columbia river on 
the north side, it would cross over to Puget Sound. How 
would this effect Portland?, The trade of San I'ran cisco 
passing into the Sound at such a cheap rate, without pilot¬ 
age or towage, in large ship}, with the very lowest rates of 
insurance—freight rendered still cheaper from the fact 
that a return cargo of limber, spars or coal can be had for 
all the ships that enter the Sound. By this route goods 
from San Francisco would be landed at the terminus of 
this road at from two to three dollars per ton, and it would 
pa3s up the Columbia river without making a call on 
Portland. 

But instead of building such a branch road through a 
mo:intaiiiois,‘S:indy country, and a greater distance, it is 
to be hoped the government will adopt the more sensible 
route I have indicated, to promote which it seems to me 
Portland, as well as all other portions of the Willamette 
valley, should heartily labor, and it would most surely bo 
satisfactory to all of W ashington territory-west of the Cas¬ 
cade mo an bain 3.” 

WHERE IS THE MONEY TO COME FROM? 

Where is the money to come from to build this road is 
truly an important question. All the railroads in the 
Western States have been built upon Eastern and import¬ 
ed capital. The iirst and most important question under 
this head, in commencing any railroad, is to determine 
satisfactorily, and with such means ns will prove it to oth¬ 
ers, that, the road when constructed will certainly pay a 
reasonable interest on the cost of construction and equip- 




I 


30 

merits. If this cannot bo done, the enterprise is futile, 
speculative, visionary and should be abandoned at once.— 
This we have biiefy attempted in the foiegoing ] ages, but 
for want of space, not by any means so fully and satisfac¬ 
torily as we are prepared to show to the capitalist who has 
money to invest in railroad bonds. In building a railroad 
upon credit or borrowed capital, we anticipate the future 
by employing values yet to be produced, and using them 
as already existing, which are the prospective earnings of 
the road. This credit should rest alone on the positive 
values of well-ascertained resources and abilities of the 
country to afford a paying railroad traffic. Wh^n it has 
been ascertained and shown to the capitalist that the inter¬ 
est on your bonds will certainly be paid, and that if lie 
chooses to exchange his bonds for your stock, that reason¬ 
able dividends will certainly be paid on it, then he will 
require as a condition precedent to his investment, that 
the people along the line of the proposed road who are to 
be made rich by the expenditure of his money, shall 
themselves subscribe for as much stock as they can con¬ 
veniently pay for, and become directly interested with 
him, not for the purpose of dividing with him any profits 
of the enterprise, but for the more important purpose of 
becoming an active ever-vigilant agent of the capitalist 
(who may reside thousands of miles distant, and may be 
across the Atlantic) for the purpose of electing as officers 
and agents of the company only such men as are honest, 
and who have a practical knowledge of the business of 
railroading, and ability and sense enough to manage the 
property in the best, manner, to see that they honestly and 
economically expend the company's funds ; to watch over 
and protect the property, and to procure all necessary leg¬ 
islation in its behalf. Correspondence with crjilalifls in 
San Francisco and the Eastern cities warrant me in saying 
that when these two things are accomplished, } cur cnler- 




prise is on the way to successful accomplishment. In 
view of the national and military importance of this road, 
and the fact that Oregon has never received any aid from 
the general government for the purpose of aiding railroads 
within her borders, while all the other Western States 
have, it is certainly the duty of Congress to aid this road, 
and it is confidently believed that such aid will he given. 

T ie people along its line should not wait for Congress 
to do it all. They are able to do, and should do some¬ 
thing, and something they must do before others will lend 
a helping hand. We must show our confidence in the 
enterprise, and a willingness to become interested to an 
extent sufficient to insure proper care and attention by 
those in a position best suited to care for and protect its 
interests. The citizens of California, in some shape or 
other, can and will build one hundred and fifty miles of 
the road up the Sacramento valley. The citizens of Ore¬ 
gon are equally able to construct a railroad through the 
W.llamette valley, and to do this, not more than one mil¬ 
lion dollars of the stock, payable in installments running 
through a term of three years, need be taken in Oregon— 
and then these “valley” roads in the Sacramento and Wil¬ 
iam ^tte valleys may be consolidated with the great 
through line, and will form the basis upon which the Hew 
York or foreign capitalists will readily invest their money. 
Til it this enterprise can be carried out in the way suggest¬ 
ed I hive full confidence. A general and free investiga¬ 
tion of this matter among the people along the line, dur¬ 
ing the last ten months, enables me to judge of the inter- 
eit they take in the matter. Already hetween five and 
six hundred persons—farmers, mechanics and merchants 

_along the general line of the road, have subscribed to 

the enterprise an advance installment on stock 
to be taken, in order to defray the expenses of the 
prelimary surveys and the publication and circulation of 


this report on an extensive scale. They believe in the en¬ 
terprise, have faith in it, know and feel the tremendous 
and crushing burdens they are laboring under, for want of 
it, and any man would now be greeted with suspicion 
that would tell them that it is visionary, impracticable or 
useless. No one can have any just idea of the burdens 
resting on Oregon fanning, for went of direct connection 
with San Francisco and the Columbia river. On this sub¬ 


ject the Astoria Marine Gazette justly remarks : 

So, generally, the nearer to his farm is the unfailing 
market—as a manufacturing establishment, a city, or a 
seaport town—the more valuable are his lands and the 
products thereof, and vice versa , the farther the farmer, 
mechanic, miner, or other jlroducer is situated from the 
market demanding his products, the less valuable are his 
products, the less valuable are his lands and all his pro¬ 
ducts, and the more difficult and tedious is it to effect ex¬ 
changes of his surplus products for the comforts of life 
which be does not produce. 

Thus it is that we canweli understand how that a bushel 
of wheat at Eugene City or Salem is worth only fifty or 
seventy-five cents, while at San Francisco it is worth $2^— 
of flour $4 to $5 per bbh at Eugene City and $9 to $10.jn 
San Francisco. The wheat or flour must he carted to 
Portland, or steamboated to Oregon City, then taken over 
the portage, then steamboated to Portland, stored, steam- 
boated to the Columbia, and then shipped to San Francisco. 


Labor vincit omnia —(Labor conquers all things)—is a La¬ 
tin maxim, that .can be applied to this enterprise. Regard¬ 
ing this road in the light of past experience in similar en¬ 
terprises, I am -afire that patient, persevering efforts by 
the people interested in the construction of this road, will 
soon put'it in the way of successful achievement. 'It 
ought to he commenced at: the earliest practicable moment 
It takes, years to accomplish such undertakings, and the. 
sooner it is commenced the sooner it will be consummated. 


Am,enterprise so universally demanded, and so prcssingly 
needed, can never go backwards, An enterprise that will 


.33 

quadruple the value oi Oregon farms, and double the price 
of all kinds of agricultural produce, is surely worth labor¬ 
ing to secure. 


DOCUMENTS. 

L herewith submit a brief report on the “Wealth and 
Resources or Oregon.” It has been prepared by a citizen 
who undo stands well the subject matter in hand. This 
report on the railroad would be imperfect without it, and 
it is printed and published with it, bolieving'that not on 1 v 
the i ail road enterprise, but the prosperity of the State 
generally, will be promoted by it. I afso submit one gen¬ 
eral map of Oregon; one map of the land surveys in Ore¬ 
gon; one of the same for California; one of the same for 
Washington Territory ; one map of the railroad surveys 
through California and Oregon; one of Prestoji’s maps of 
California, Oregon and Washington Territory; one copy 
of Wilkes’ Chart of the Columbia river; one copy Wilkes’ 
Chart of Puget Sound ; one map of surveys for Pacific 
Railroads. 

THANKS. 

To the members of the Pros throughout the State, who 
have seconded my efforts in aroudng public attention to 
the importance of this enterprise, I. return rny grateful 
Acknowledgements. To the many hundreds among the 
farmers, mechanics and merchants, who have lent a help-^ 
ing hand, is due rny thanks and the warmest gratitude.— 
As soon as the contributors have generally paid up, and 
the accounts have been closed, a list of those contributing 
with the amounts contributed by each, and how the money 
has been expended, will be published and sent to each. 

1 desire to express my obligations to all the members of 
the surveying party generally for their valuable assistance. 

To J. Gaston, Esq., 1 am under especial obligations 
for valuable assistance. IIis extensive and practical 


34 


knowledge of the construction of railroads, his scientific 
attainments, his intimate and thorough knowledge of the 
plans of organizing and carrying forward railroad enter¬ 
prises, and their successful operation, have been of espe¬ 
cial value to me. 

Trusting that the foregoing report may assist in under¬ 
standing the general features of this enterprise, imperfect 
for want of time and space as it is, and that it may serve 
to attract greater attentionrto the enterprise. 

I am, very truly, 

• Your obedient serv’t, 

CHARLES BARRY, 
Sup’t of Surveys C. & C. River R. R v 
Salem, Oregon Oct. 1st, 1864. 

/ 



































































































































































































' ", 



WEALTH AND RESOURCES 


OF THE 


STATE OE OREGON. 


BY A CITIZEN OF THE STATE. 


SALEM, OREGON: 

STATESMAN POWER PRESS. 

1864. 



« 




PREFACE. 


Under the above title, it is not intended to write a book. 
This will be but a brief sketch of the natural advantages 
and resources of our State, hastily prepared in two weeks’ 
time. It will be confined to those points that are of inter¬ 
est to the man of business, to the man who desires to select 
a home for his family, or invest his money securely in pay¬ 
ing real estate; to the enterprising farmer of small capital 
in the older States. To the sagacious manufacturer, the 
industrious mechanic, the fever-stricken invalid, and the 
careful capitalist, it is hoped these pages will not prove 
uninteresting, inasmuch as they point to a new, unoccu¬ 
pied and most desirable field for the application of their 
industry, skill and capital. To the general reader or mere 
knowledge searcher,, it will doubtless appear dry, but on 
that account, it is hoped, it will be none the less accept¬ 
able, but more valuable to those for whom it was written. 
If it shall in any degree excite a greater interest in the 
unrivalled resources of our State, or influence any one to 
investigate more closejy the statements herein made, or 
arouse in citizens a higher appreciation of our majestic 
rivers, and beautiful valleys, or a more active pub¬ 
lic spirit in the development and improvement of the 
State, the object of the pamphlet will be accom¬ 
plished. The statements herein made are based upon 
the actual observation of reliable and intelligent gen¬ 
tlemen, reported from all parts of the State, and may be 
relied on as correct. 



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Hbalfh and <rij Ibdgdtt, 

CHAPTER I. 

IN WHAT CONSISTS THE MATERIAL WEALTH OF A STATE. 

Sec. 1 To judge whether Oregon possesses great wealth, 
we should have a correct idea of what elements are neces¬ 
sary to make a State wealthy and prosperous. Most persons 
believe that money is wealth, or capital. To the super¬ 
ficial observer, nothing is easier to believe than that he 
that has most money is the wealthiest. While this is gen¬ 
erally true in point of fact, it is, in the abstract, an error. 
If one man in a community possessed all the money in his 
community, while all the food and clothing, all the neces¬ 
saries of sustaining life, were so distributed among the 
other members of the community that they could spare 
nothing without subtracting from the means of their own 
maintenance, it is plain that he who had all the money was 
really the poorest in the community. There is no such 
thing in nature as money. It is one of the incidents of 
human society, growing out of the necessity of exchange 
or barter of goods. Gold and silver, by the common use 
of nearly all nation^ is money throughout tfie mercantile 
world. Iron and copper—less precious, but more useful 
—has been used by some nations as money ; while “ prom¬ 
ises to pay,” printed on paper, have been, at times, and 





are yet, almost exclusively the only money used by the 
most prosperous nations. Money is. but the medium of 
transferring wealth or capital from one to another; and 
this medium, rather than the substance, has taken hold of 
the minds of men, and their ideas are generally governed 
by their perception of the medium alone. Nothing is 
more erroneous than to assert that the price of gold is the 
standard of values. It is no more an index of the wealth 
or resources of a nation, than a yard measure is the value 
of a railway. The actual possession of gold no more 
enriches a country, than the possession of a fortune does 
the miser. 13o long as our gold remains in our mountains 
it is of no consequence—it wont support life. There is 
not money enough in the world to purchase the world, if 
such a thing was proposed. Ko country’s wealth is meas¬ 
ured by the amount of gold it contains. It is only as the 
counters in the game of life with which the players keep 
their tallies. 

Probably the most remote element of wealth to any 
State or nation, would be its natural advantages for 
defense from the aggressions of foreign nations. Until 
that happy period shall arrive when “ the lion and the 
lamb shall lie down together/’ all nations will spend 
largely of their wealth for the means of, defense. 
England’s isolated position is worth more to i her than a 
hundred thousand soldiers. Viewed in this light, Oregon 
is highly favored; Surrounded on nearly all sides by high 
mountains, impassable by armies moving against the 
means of modern warfare, and having but one grand gate¬ 
way to her mountain locked valleys, and natural store¬ 
houses, her position, if thrown entirely upon her own 
ability for defense, would be almost impregnable. 

With the same population and extent of territory, some 
countries produce a much greater amount of the necessa¬ 
ries of life than others. Compare England with either a 


7 


similar extent of Territory in Russia, or an equal popula¬ 
tion of Russians. Some of the causes which contribute 
to this difference of productiveness are obvious; others 
qre not so much so. These causes constitute wealth or 
resources of the State, and may he specified as follows: • 
The first and most obvious is fertility of soil. In this 
there are great varieties, from the deserts of the Colorado 
to the rich bottom lands of the Mississippi. But a favor¬ 
able climate is even more important than a fertile soil. 
There are countries which may be inhabited, yet too cold 
for agriculture—the countries of the Laplander and Esqui¬ 
maux. There are countries where oats will ripen, but not 
wheat, such as the North of Scotland ; others where 
wheat can be grown, but, from excess of moisture and 
want of sunshine, afiords but a precarious crop, as in parts 
of Ireland. Nor is it in agriculture alone that differences 
of climate are important. Their influence is felt in the 
durability of all mechanicrl structures, such as houses, &c., 
exposed to the air. It is said by travelers that the most 
massive works of masonry at St. Petersburgh, executed in 
granite scarcely a generation ago, are now tumbling to 
pieces from the alternate exposure to summer heat and 
intense frost. Another part of the influence of climate 
consists in lessening or increasing the physical require¬ 
ments of laborers; and in enervating or stimulating the 
vital forces, whereby we account for the difference in the 
civilization and prosperity of those people native to a trop 
ical climate and those of tfie North Temperate Zone., 
Among natural advantages, after soil and climate, must 
be classed abundance of mineral deposits, in convenient 
situations, and capable of being worked with moderate 
labor; such as mines of coal, iron, copper, lead, &c., quar¬ 
ries of building htone, &c. These do much to compen¬ 
sate any country for any disadvantages of climate. After 
this may be named the abundance of natural water power, 


8 


which is the cheapest and best of all power in aid of 
man’s power. Forests of good lumbering timber are a 
source of great wealth to any country possessing them. 

But perhaps a greater advantage than all these is a mar¬ 
itime or commercial situation, especially when accom¬ 
panied with good natural harbors ; and, next to that, great 
navigable rivers. These advantages consist in saving cost 
in transportation; and but few who have not considered 
the subject have any adequate idea how great an extent of 
economical advantage this comprises ; nor, without having 
examined the influence exercised on production, by 
exchanges, can it be fully estimated. So important is this 
that it often more than counterbalances sterility of soil 
and every other natural inferiority. In all the above 
mentioned natural advantages, we claim that the State of 
Oregon stands unequalled. 



CHAPTER II. 


GENERAL SURVEY OF THE STATE. 

Section 2. Topography .—But few other countries com¬ 
prise within so small a space such various and strongly 
marked topographical features. Mountains the most 
steep, barren and rugged, valleys .the most beautiful and 
fertile, deserts the most sterile, spacious bays, magnificent 
rivers, unparalleled waterfalls, picturesque lakes, broad 
prairies and dense forests—all these may be found in Ore¬ 
gon. It contains about 120,000,000 acres of land, of 
which, probably, about 10,000,000 acres will prove fit for 
cultivation. The balance consists of rugged mountains 
and barren deserts, of which about four fifths may be 
counted as dry upland pasture—superior grazing land for 
sheep. Commencing at the north-east corner of the State> 
we find Grand Ronde and Powder River valleys. 

Sec. 3. Grand Ronde Valley — Is reported to contain 
400,000 acres of excellent agricultural land, of which only 
8,000 are now under cultivation. It is surrounded by 
spurs of the Blue.mountains, and is coursed throughout its 
entire extent by limpid streams of water from the sur¬ 
rounding mountains. It was formerly the great garden 
for the Nez Perces and other Indians in that section, from 
which they annually gsfthered immense uantities of the 
u Camas” root, for food. The discovery of gold in the 
Salmon river and Boise countries having led thousands of 
miners in that direction, the whole valley, nearly has been 
claimed by immigant farmers; and a town is already 
established, called La Grand. The valley is organized 
into Union county. Considering its hight above the level 


10 


of the sea, and its latitude, its climate is said to be mild. 
The market for the farmers of the valley is found in the 
surrounding mining camps. 

Sec. 4. Powder Biver Valley .—This valley and adjoin¬ 
ing mining camps, are organized into Baker county, of 
which Auburn is the county seat, and center of business. 
A very large number of miners are now in this county, 
and all doing well. A very rich and “extensive vein of 
copper has been discovered in this county. The valley 
contains about 200,000 acres of arable land, of whch about 
10,000 may be said to be under cultivation. The climate 
here is warmer and dryer than in Grand Bonde, being 
further south. Powder river is a small, unnavigable 
stream, but affording an abundance of water for the use 
of the miners and farmers. In this part of the State are 
several other small valleys, of which w~e have no particu¬ 
lar account. Their adaptation to agriculture has already 
been tested, and anything may be raised here that can be 
raised in the Northern part of Ohio. Not having been 
settled but two years, it cannot be told whether the fruits 
will- succeed. 

Sec. 5. The Lake Country. — The south-eastern part of 
Oregon may be denominated the “Lake Basin.” Com¬ 
mencing 'at the south-eastern corner of Jackson county, 
and running to Diamond Peak, on the east boundary of 
Douglas county, and from thence by the heads of the Des 
Chutes, Malheur and Owyhee rivers, to the east boundary 
of the State, and from thence stmth and west, by the east 
boundary of Oregon and the Oregon and California line, 
to the place of beginning, and we have Oregon’s portion 
of a great internal basin, now, to the enterprising explorer 
the most interesting portion of the State. It may be gen¬ 
erally called a plateau, and is five thousand feet above the 
ocean level. It is an almost independent basin, few of its 


11 


waters ever leaving it, but flowing into the many lakes it con¬ 
tains, and are lost by evaporation or absorption. The whole 
basin is filled with alternate low hills, arid plains, fertile val¬ 
leys, marshes and lakes. In this basin there are something 
over twenty lakes reported, varying in size from the pond of 
a few acres up to “ Goose Lake,” which is said to be ten 
miles wide and thirty long. The water in many of these 
lakes has a saline taste.^ Most all the land is barren and 
vegetation scanty. Millions of wild geese inhabit these 
lakes and marshes, and here, undisturbed by white men, 
arid in the dense marshes distant from the main land, they 
hatch their young. The whole basin, until this summer, 
has been in the possession of wandering bauds of the 
Klamath, Modoc, and Snake Indians. . Three military 
expeditions have, during the summer, penetrated the basin, 
with a view to afford protection to immigrants, prospect¬ 
ors for mines, and to chastise and compel these Indians to 
respect the property and persons of travellers and immi¬ 
grants hereafter passing through. With regard to this 
great basin, and its present condition, I make the follow¬ 
ing extract from a letter of Capt. John M. Drake, of the 
Oregon Cavalry, in command of one of the military expe¬ 
ditions, dated Harney Valley, July 2d, 1864, and addressed 
to Headquarters : 

“ I have been able, during the time employed in this 
vicinity, to explore the country thoroughly, and am well 
convinced there are no Indians in the vicinity. Ho signs 
of any could be found except a few camps that have been 
abandoned at least two months. From appearances, I am 
disposed to think this valley is not a haunt of theirs. It 
is probable that a few of them, perhaps twenty or thirty 
families, winter here, but they do not live here during the 
summer. 

The affair between Lieut. Waymire and the Indians 
occurred at the eastern base of the Snow mountains about 
50 miles • southeast of Lake Harney, in the vicinity of 
Capt. [Curry’s present depot. There is every reason to 


12 

believe that the Indians abandoned the country immedi¬ 
ately after that affair. 

'From prospectors, immigrants from California, and 
others, I learn that the Indians ate quite numerous in the 
vicinity of Goose Lake, and have committed some depre¬ 
dations recently. A party of prospectors, who fitted out 
at the Dalles in April last, and travelled with the expedi¬ 
tion for some days after starting, came to our camp last 
night, having two men wounded by Indians somewhere 
near Goose Lake. 

There is a large emigration from Northern California 
and Southern Oregon through this section of the country 
to Boise and Owyhee. Quite a number of families are 
reported to be on the road, and an immense quantity of 
stock. Large droves of cattle are seen almost daily cross¬ 
ing Harney valley. This emigration enters Harney valley 
by two routes ; one, from Shasta, Cal., traverses Pitt river 
valley to Goose Lake, passes along the lake to Lake Abert, 
thence across a sage desert ninety miles in extent, inter¬ 
secting the military road at Pleasanton’s Butte ; the other 
from Yreka, Cal., and Jacksonville, Oregon, via Lower 
Klamath Lake and Silver Lake, across a sage desert sev¬ 
enty-two miles in extent, intersects the military road at 
Spring valley, twenty-five miles south of Camp Maury; a 
branch from this point leads to Canyon City, in a north¬ 
east dicretion—I could not ascertain the distance. These 
trails have become great public thoroughfares this sum¬ 
mer, but I do not think they can be made available for 
purposes of transportation, on account of the wide extent 
of desert to be traversed. I have been informed by some 
miners that the route by Goose Lake can be improved by 
changing its course slightly.to the west, thus shortening 
the desert to stretches of about thirty miles each. The 
Yreka route is not capable of being improved in that 
respect. 

I think I am safe in stating that no practicable route 
can be found in anything Hike a direct course from 
Diamond Peak to Lake Harney, on occount of this 
immense desert. 

Lieut. Way mire can avoid the desert by making a cir¬ 
cuit to the north and intersecting the military road, at Buck 
creek, thirty miles south of Camp Maury. 

I have found the country over which the expedition has 
marched, thus far, to be generally unfit for any purposes 


13 


but grazing, and - a large portion of it is desert. This is 
particularly the case with Harney valley, not more than 
one tenth of which is fit for any useful purpose whatever. 

I am, very respectfully, 

Your most ob’t servant, 

J1STO. M. DRAKE.” 

The amount of agricultural land in this basin cannot 
now be ascertained. The amount of grazing land must be 
considerable. 

Sec. 6 . Rogue River Valley. — This valley is located in 
Southern Oregon, not so much upon the river bearing its 
name, as upon Bear creek and Butte creek, two small 
affluents of Rogue river. It was settled soon after the 
discovery of gold on Jackson creek, in the year 1851-2. 

The valley, with the neighboring mining camps, is 
organized into Jackson county, of which Jacksonville is 
the county seat, and center of trade and business, and 
contains between four and five thousand inhabitants. The 
valley is exceedingly fertile, producing, immense crops of 
wheat and oats, and probably the finest fruit that can be 
raised in Oregon. In addition to the common sorts which 
flourish equally throughout the State, this valley produces 
the largest and finest flavored grapes, peaches, plums, 
apricots, nectarines and strawberries that we have ever 
met with. It has one serious disadvantage—that of being 
far removed from navigable rivers and an ocean port; and 
being surrounded by mountains, transportation, is diffi¬ 
cult. The people are now engaged in making a superior 
wagon road from the va^Jey to the great gold fields of the 
North, which, when finished, will bring their produce into 
favorable competition with that from the Willamette val¬ 
ley. It is very favorably situattd for the production and 
and manufacture of wool, and the people of the valley 
will be careless of their best interests if they do not turn 
their attention to this branch of industry. It has, during 


% 


14 


the last two years, furnished immense droves of superior 
beef cattle, to the northern mines; and may be said to be 
well adapted to a very economical production of all kinds 
of stock. The climate is very mild, and is the dryest and 
warmest part of the State. The valley contains about 
150,000 acres of arable land, of which about one-fifth is 
under cultivation. 

Sec. T. Illinois Valley . — This valley is situated on the 
Illinois River and its branches, in the extreme south-west¬ 
ern portion of the State. The valley, with the neighbor¬ 
ing mining camps, comprise, Josephine county, of which 
Kirbyville is the county seat, and Waldo the principal 
business to\yn. 

The valley is similar, in every respect, to Rogue river 
valley, and was settled about the same period, but does 
not contain more than one fourth as much good land. 
Mining is the principal interest, and agriculture only sec¬ 
ondary. On the edge of this valley is located the “ Queen 
of Bronze” copper mine, intrinsically the most valuable 
copper mine on the coast. It will be noticed more at large 
under the head of mines. The Illinois, like Rogue river, 
is a bold, rapid, mountain stream, and Rogue river, only, 
is navigable for but about thirty^ miles of its lower por¬ 
tion, and only for steamboats of light draught. 

Sec. 8. The Umpqua Valley. — This valley is bounded 
North by the Calapooia mountains, south by the Rogue 
river mountains, east by the Cascade mountains and on the 
west by the broken spurs of rffbuntains properly belong¬ 
ing to the Coast Range. It is the largest valley in South¬ 
ern Oregon, and is second in importance only to the Wil¬ 
lamette valley. It is most bountifully watered by the 
Umpqua river and itsnumerous branches and affluents. 
Instead of being one valley, it is, more properly a series or 
gathering of many small ones, partially separated by low 


/ 


I 


15 


hills, but all connected on the same plain. These low 
hills form the best of grazing land, and many are culti¬ 
vated. On account of its beautiful and romantic scenery, 
it has been called the “ Switzerland of America.” It pos¬ 
sesses an exceedingly fertile and varied soil, upon which 
everything may be grown successfully which can be raised 
in any of the Northwestern States. Here, as in the Rogue 
river and Illinois valleys, all manner of fruits grow to per¬ 
fection. This valley is organized into Douglas county, of 
which Roseburg is the county seat. Canyonville, Oakland 
and Scottsburg are located in this county, and are thriving 
towns. The outlet of the trade of the valley is at Scotts¬ 
burg, the head of ocean schooner navigation on the Ump¬ 
qua’ river. The people of the valley have turned their 
attention largely to the raising of sheep, and from the 
annual sales of wool they are all prospering. The 
immense range of pasture on public lands costs nothing 
and the sheep require but little attention more than herd¬ 
ing. The proximity of the valley to the sea-coast, brings 
it within the range of the healthful sea-breezes, and ren¬ 
ders it probably a more desirable place for residence than 
any other part of Southern Oregon. The climate is 
delightful. The valley is reported to contain '225,000 
acres of arable land, but I think this is far short of a safe 
estimate,—75,000 acres under cultivation. The California 
Stage Company’s coaches, with daily mails, passes through 
this valley daily, as also through Rogue river valley. 

Sec. 9. The Willamette Valley .—This not only the 
great valley of Oregon, but the greatest valley on the 
Pacific coast, all things considered. It is not near so large 
as the Sacramento valley, in California, but when the Sac¬ 
ramento valley is dried up by its extreme heat, and appears 
only as a parched and barren plain, the Willamette valley 
does not fail the husbandman, but rewards him with 


golden fields' of grain, waving corn and hay, luxuriant 
pasturage, and untold thousands of bushels of apples; and 
for the correctness of this statement, we need only to refer 
to the thousands of California farmers who have, during 
this summer, abandoned the Sacramento valley, and with 
their flocks and herds have come up to the Willamette 
valley for food, and the comforts and necessaries of life— 
and in this consists the superiority of the Willamette over 
the Sacramento. It is always seasonable. No drouths in 
summer nor killing frosts in winter. An old settler 
remarks: “I have known the Willamette for twenty years 
and it has never failed to produce the most abundant crops 
—it is always the same.” It contains 8,000,000 rich agri¬ 
cultural land, superior, in all respects, to any land in any 
of the New England or Middle Atlantic States, and unsur¬ 
passed by any in the Union. This valley alone contains 
more arable land than many of the Eastern States. Not 
one tenth of it is now under cultivation. Everything is 
produced here that can be in Illinois, Ohio, or Pennsyl¬ 
vania, and in wheat, oats, fruit, wool and live stock, we 
can greatly excel those States in quality. The average 
yield of wheat in Ohio is sixteen bushels per acre, while 
the whole number of acres of wheat in Oregon, would 
average above twenty ’bushels, and of oats not less than 
thirty. Fifty-five bushels of wheat per acre and seventy- 
five bushels of oats per acre, is frequently raised here, and 
good cultivation would make the average of wheat not 
less than thirty. The valley contains a very large number 
of very fine orchards, and over 100,000 boxes of apples 
are exported every year to San Francisco and Victoria, 
where they command a premium. It contains ten rivers, 
with numerous branches, and is, beyond doubt, the best 
supplied with living springs of good* water, running 
streams, magnificent water powers of any equal extent, on 
the American continent. It is inclosed on three sides 


17 


by majestic mountains, whose peaks of perpetual snow 
may be seen throughout the year. The climate is mild, 
equable, and exceedingly healthy. The following eloquent 
and just description of this valley I take from the Hon. J. 
Q. Thornton’s work on Oregon, written several years ago: 

No country I have yet seen equals the beauty of the 
valley through which this river flows. The valley, includ¬ 
ing the hills susceptible of having good farms made upon 
them, has an average width of, perhaps, sixty or eighty 
miles. The scenery, which is beheld from almost any por¬ 
tion of the open country, is not only beautiful, and emi¬ 
nently calculated to excite the imagination, but it is 
entirely unique. 

The surface of the earth presents, in many places, swells 
of unequal elevation, covered with grass, having no under¬ 
growth of shrubs and bushes, and being dotted over with 
the most'beautiful oaks, that almost cheat the imagination 
into the illusion that they were planted and tended by the 
hand of man. Open prairies of inexhausible fertility, and 
having no resemblance to our western prairies, but swell¬ 
ing into hills, and then again sinking into valleys, stretch 
away in picturesque beauty. 

The features of nature as looked upon in this enchant¬ 
ing valley, arc indeed beautiful; but her snow-covered 
peaks and her long line of mountains are not only beau¬ 
tiful, but sublime. In the months of may and June every 
hill and valley is covered with the green of abundant veg¬ 
etation, that hightens the enchantment of a scene to which 
the translucent waters of the Willamette give a softer 
character to an assemblage of objects constituting one of 
the most beautiful pictures in nature. 

I am persuaded that no one of a cultivated taste and 
possessing flue feelings, reflned and purifled by the $tudy 
of nature in all her moods and aspects, can contemplate 
without vivid emotions of pleasure the character of this 
most delightful scenery. It is, indeed, comparatively a 
wilderness, and civilization has here made but little pro¬ 
gress, but the mind swells, and the spirit is refreshed by * 
. the prospect of future improvements as stupendous as tile 
overlasting snow peaks the beholder. looks upon. 

The Willamette is a stream which the ancient poets 
would have peopled with nymphs, and celebrated in song. 
Its waters are transparent, and upon their bosom a great 


18 


variety of ducks, white geese, cranes, swans, pelicans, ill- 
omened loons, and a multitude of water fowls, with their 
variegated vestments, glide gracefully, or patter their 
hills among the reeds and grasses upon the shore, or con¬ 
gregate in great numbers upon the sand-bars. 

The range of mountains that form the western limit of 
the valley presents a great variety of elevations, covered to 
their summits with the most beautiful forests of ever¬ 
greens, consisting of pines, hemlock, and different varie¬ 
ties of cedar. 

Far off in the east, the Cascade Range of mountains 
bounds the valley in that direction, many of the peaks, 
covered with the accumulated snows and ices of centuries, 
are in view at the same moment, and from the same point 
of observation. The warm sun of July shines upon them 
•and they glitter in dazzling whiteness in mid-air, and in 
awful contrast with the dark basaltic rocks, which in some 
places present pinnacles, and in others huge and Qonfused 
massive heaps, and in others black and rugged precipices, 
that arrest the clouds, and have, during unknown centu¬ 
ries, defied the pow r er of earthquakes and storms, and still 
continue to contrast their threatening and savage moun¬ 
tain sublimity with the picture of the lovely landscape 
painted upon the beautiful Willamette. 

Many of the prairies of the valley are several miles in 
extent. But the smaller ones, especially those known as 
the Tualatin Plains, where the woodland and plain alter¬ 
nate frequently, are the most beautiful, although the pros¬ 
pect is more confined. These plains vary from a few acres 
to several hundred—sometimes two or three thousand. 
They are not uniform in their surface, but are broken into 
gentle and graceful grassy swells. Deep, shaded recesses 
along the borders of the timber, remind the traveler of 
the inlets of some quiet, sylvan sheet of water. 

The space between these small prairies is covered with 
an open forest of tall, straight evergreens. Here, even 
before the silence of the scene was broken by the voice of 
the emigrant and the sound of his axe, it w r as, if not a 
desert, at least a solitude, that blossomed as the rose, and 
* a wilderness that was stripped of everything rude and 
wild. The clusters of trees are so beautifully arranged, 
the openings so gracefully curved, the grounds so open 
and clean, that it seems to be the work of art; and the 
beautiful avenues are calculated to cheat the imagination 


19 


into the belief that they lead to some farm house or pleas¬ 
ant village. 

It will thus be seen that the. Willamette river and its 
tributaries water a most fertile and delightful region.” 

The valley is about one hundred and forty miles in 
length by forty miles in width and contains nine counties, 
several of which are larger than some of the Atlantic 
States. It contains also thirty-five towns and villages 
varying in population from onejhundred to four thousand, 
Portland being the largest, and the commercial entrepot 
of the valley. 

Sec. 10. Wasco and Umatilla Counties. — These two 
counties embrace the country east of the Cascade moun¬ 
tains and bordering on the Columbia river. They contain 
a large amount of good land, but the amount we have no 
report of; and but little of it is occupied or claimed. 

% The rich gold mines of Canyon City, on John Days river, 
are in Wasco county (lately formed into Grant county). 
The chief importance of these two counties must ever be 
their commercial interests, situated as they are on the 
great river of the Pacific. Dalles City and Umatilla Land¬ 
ing are the two commercial points. Canyon City is a min¬ 
ing town. 

Dalles City is situated immediately east of the Cascade 
mountains, and at the converging point of nearly all the 
overland travel for Oregoifand Washinton, and of all the 
trade of the extensive mining regions of Idaho and Eastern 
Oregon, and must eventually become the largest inland city 
on the Pacific coast. Almost entirely destitute of good 
natural resources, it will, doubtless, like the cities of Athens, 
Tyre, Venice and Constantinople, make good use of “the 
situation.” The Oregon Branch Mint has been located at 
this point, by act of Congress. 

Sec. 11. Columbia County. — This county is situated on 
the Columbia river, below the Willamette valley, and sep- 

G«kW—2 


20 


arated from it by a low range of mountains.* It has noth¬ 
ing of consequence to recommend it, except its commer¬ 
cial situation, on the river, and its forests of the finest tim¬ 
ber. The population is sparse and there is no town that 
amounts to anything. Should its county-seat (St. Helens) 
be made the terminus of a railroad running southwardly 
through the Willamette, it would, doubtless, by the con¬ 
centration of capital, become a flourishing city. There is 
said to be a large number of salt springs in the county. 

Sec. 12. Ihe Coast Counties. — The counties on the 
sea coast are Clatsop, Tillamook, Coos and Curry. They 
are all sparsely populated, and have the same general char¬ 
acter. Parts of Douglas, Lane and Benton counties also 
lie upon the coast. The coast counties afford the richest 
and best pasturage in the State, and the inhabitants are 
principally engaged in grazing stock. The climate is con- , 
sidered the healthiest in the State. 

Clatsop county, at the mouth of the Columbia river, 
contains a great deal of good, agricultural land, and the 
farmers are all prospering, being able to sell all their pro¬ 
duce for cash, to vessels stopping for supplies at the mouth 
of the river. Clatsop beach is becoming a celebrated 
watering place. Astoria, the principal town, is in a flour¬ 
ishing condition. It was founded long ago b}^ the million¬ 
aire, John Jacob Astor, and it was long thought that At 
would become the great commercial city of the Pacific. 

It has not fulfilled the anticipations of its friends, but it is 
undoubtedly more prosperous than ever before. 

The United States government is now erecting exten¬ 
sive and very formidable fortifications on all the points of 
land about the mouth of the river. 

Tillamook county is not noted for anything but the 
oysters its bay produces, and butter sent to market by its 
people. Curry is in the same fix, except the oysters. 


21 


There are some gold mines on the Ocean beach, but they 
are not extensively worked now. The county contains a 
vast amount of good grazing land, and many very fine 
droves of cattle, which are raised so cheaply that whole 
stocks have been sold at five dollars per head. The mouth 
of Rogue river, in this county, affords a very good port 
and harbor for schooners of not over one hundred and 
fifty tons burthen. If the copper mines on the river some 
twenty-five miles from its mouth continue to develop well, 
there will soon be an immense business done there in 
shipping copper ore. The following interesting commu¬ 
nication in relation to Coos county, is from the pen of S. 
C-. Mann, Esq, a very n§liable gentleman: 

Coos County .—-The resources, climate and productions of 
this county are peculiar, differing, in many respects, trom 
all other portions of the State. Its situation upon the sea 
coast impacts to the climate a healthful and equal^tempera- 
ture. Its minerals, lumber, and agricultural products fur¬ 
nish employment to its population, and afford the basis 
of an extensive commercial intercourse. Its harbor is 
safe, capacious, and accessible to vessels having a draught 
of thirteen feet. 

Minerals. 

Its coal fields extend over an area of twenty square 
miles, containing an inexhaustible quantity of bituminous 
coal, in the immediate vicinity of the navigable waters of 
Coos bay. The coal veins have an average thickness of 
five feet, and have a slight inclination from a horizontal 
position. The mines of Messrs. Flanegan & Mann ship 
from three to five thousand tons of coal annually, to San 
Francisco exclusive of a large amount consumed upon 
Coos bay. The mine of C. M. Perschbacker has shipped 
about the same quantify, when in working condition. 

Upon the sea beach, for a distance of twenty miles, are 
found deposits of fine gold, affording a remunerative 
employment, to a number of miners. These mines, 
Together with those upon the sources of the Coquille 
river, produce an annual yield of about twenty thousand 
dollars. 

Virgin copper and its ore is frequently found upon the 



22 


Coquille river, and indicates the existence of this ore in 
quantity. The vigorous and systematic efforts now being' 
prosecuted for its discovery have promise of success. 

Lumber . 

A very large portion of this country is heavily wooded 
with white cedar, fir, and hemlock. Much of this being - 
located in the vicinity of navigable streams, bays, and 
their inlets, renders it easy of access. The white cedar 
is found nowhere on this coast except for about fifty miles 
in this part of Oregon. It is a soft, white, durable wood, 
producing lumber equal to the white pine of the east, 
commanding the price of sixty dollars per thousand in San 
Francisco. Two steam sawmills are now in operation, 
owned by A. M. Simpson, and W. H. Luse, respectively. 
Another is in process of erection, by Messrs^ "Winchester 
and Wasson. About seven millions of feet of lumber 
have been shipped from these mills during the last years, 
besides the smaller item of many thousands of laths and 
broom handles. 

Agriculture . 

Though a large portion of Coos county is mountainous 
it has extensive farming lands upon its river bottoms and 
bays. These lands are rich and productive, favored by a 
climate without the extremes of heat and cold. Moist and 
cooling breezes from the ocean prevent the arid droughts 
that parch the interior vallies. Grains, fruits, vegetables, 
grow luxuriantly and yield abundantly. About five thou¬ 
sand boxes of apples were shipped from Coos bay to San 
Francisco, last season. The young orchards from which 
these were produced will soon quadruple their amount. 
Tobacco and hops have recently been cultivated by Dr. 
Hermann, with flattering success in quality and quantity. 
The same gentleman has experimented with bees that had 
failed to produce in other localities. His hives yielded 
from fifty to sixty pounds of the very best honey, and seut 
out several swarms of bees from qgch hive. 

Commerce . 

There are two harbors in Coos county, Coos Bay and 
Coquille river. The latter is navigable by vessels of small 
tonnage, and has now one vessel in regular trade. Coos 
bay has several vessels in regular trade, of the bnrden of 
about three hundred tons, together with a steam tug for 
the purpose of towage. 


23 


% 8 hip Building. 

The facilities afforded by Coos bay have induced the 
building of vessels, suited to the coasting trade. Two ves¬ 
sels are built and rigged at Coos Bay, during each summer, 
valued at about fifteen thousand dollars each. 

Population. 

T , The population, of this county is less than one thousand. 
Its inhabitants are all actively and profitably employed. 
It has within itself elements of .prosperity. Its resources 
compare favorably with any other portion of the State. 







CHAPTER III. 


OREGON AGRICULTURE. 

Seo. 13. Statistics. — The following Statistics have been 
compiled, with the view of making them as nearly accu¬ 
rate as possible. Although they may not be entirely 
accurate, yet they are below rather than being above the 
true estimate. It is unfortunate that no general system of 
procuring a truthful report of our annual productions has 
boen adopted by the assessors throughout the State. Esti¬ 
mates from all the counties have been procured from the 
assessors’ returns, in the offices of the county clerks, except 
from Marion county and Grand Ronde Valley, and that 


was furnished by residents. 

For Linn County. 

Acres of arable land... 600,000 

“ under cultivation... 100,000 

Humber of bushels of wheat raised 

in 1863. 1,000,000 

Ho. bushels oats raised 1863. 600,000 

“ “ barley and rye raised 1863 20,000 

Value of horses. $300,000 

“ cattle..'. 200,000 

“ sheep.. 200,000 

u hogs. 50,000 

# 4 

For Lane County. 

Acres of arable land. 450,000 

“ under cultivation. 150,000 

Ho. bushels wheat raised. 600,000 

“ “ oats “ . 800,000 

“ “ barley and rye raised... 20,000 














25 


No. bushels peas raised. 40,000 

Tons of hay raised. 500 

Value of horses. $200,000 

“ cattle. 200,000 

“ sheep. 175,000 

“ hogs... 50,000 

For Marion County. 

Acres of arable land. 400,000 

“ under cultivation. 80,000 

[These two items estimated by John Minto. 

Bushels of wheat raised. 600,000 

“ oats raised... 800,000 

“ barley and rye raised . 20,000 

Value of horses'. $250,000 

“ • cattle. 200,000 

“ sheep..'. 250,000 

“ hogs. 60,000 

For Clackamas County. 

Acres arable land. 200,000 

“ “ under cultivation. 25,000 

Bushels wheat raised ... v . 100,000 

“ oats raised. 150,000 

“ barley and rye raised.- 1,000 

Value of horses.. $92,216 

“ cattle... 67,446 

“ hogs. 6,170 

For Multnomah County. 

Acres arable land. 50,000 

“ under cultivation. 2,520 

Bushels of wheat raised.. 7,000 

“ oats raised. 10,000 

“ barley and rye raised. 2,000 

Value of horses. $30,000 

“ cattle.......... 50,000 
































26 


“ sheep. 6,000 

u hogs... 3,000 

(I think this must be entirely too low) 

For Washington County. 

Acres of arable land. 300,000 

“ under cultivation. 20,000 

Bushels of wheat raised. 400,000 

“ oats raised. 500,000 

Value of horses... $125,000 

“ cattle. 50,000 

“ sheep. 15,000 

For Yamhill County. 

Acres arable land. 400,000 

of which about 100,000 acres is yet 
government land. 

Acres under cultivation. 50,000 

Bushels of wheat raised. 800,000 

“ oats raised. 400,000 

’ “ barley and rye. 150,000 

Number tons of hay. 30,000 

2,000 horses, at $100 per head. $200,000 

7,000 cattle, at $15 “ . 105,000 

24,000 sheep, at $2 50 “ • . 60,000 

10,000 hogs, at $2 “ . 30,000 

For Polk County. 

Acres arable land. 400,000 

“ under cultivation. 50,000 

Bushels of wheat. 1,000,000 

“ oats... 1,000,000 

“ barley and rye raised. 50,000 

Tons of hay. 5,000 

Value of horses. $250,000 

“ cattle........,. 200,000 

u sheep.. 100,000 






























27 


Value of hogs. $25,000 

(They farm well in Polk) 

For Benton County. 

Number of acres ready for the plow. 200,000 

“ under cultivanion. 40,000 

Bushels of wheat.*_ 400,000 

“ oats.•. 400,000 

“ barley and rye. 6,000 

Tons of hay. 8,000 

Value of horses. $150,000 

“ cattle.... 90,000 

“ sheep. 60,000 

“ hogs.. 30,000 


All the above counties are in the Willamette valley. 

For Douglas county (Umpqua valley), L. L. Williams, of 
Roseburg, furnishes the following abstract from the Assessment 


Roll of Douglas county : 

Acresland... *. 233,597 

Horses and mules. 5,290 

Cattle. # . 10,657 

Hogs. 12,031 

Sheep. 40,553 

Stands of bees. 447 

Taxable property, after deducting individ- 

indebtedness .....$1,410,247 

Voters... 875 

Population. 3,583 

For Jackson County. 

Acres of arable land, (reported). 30,000 

Under cultivation... .'. 6,000 

(Entirely too low) 

« Bushels of wheat]. 65,330 

“ oats. 79,454 

11 , barley.. 8,840 



























28 


Value of hay... $ 15,000 

“ horses. 220,100 

“ cattle. 114,160 

“ sheep. 7,332 

“ hogs. 20,152 

For Wasco County. 

Value of horses..$ 150,000 

cattle. 100,000 

“ sheep. 105,000 

“ hogs. 5,000 

Population of Dalles city. 2,500 

Gold dust received per month.$1,000,000 

For Grand Ronde Valley. 

Acres arable land. 100,000 

“ under cultivation. 8,000 

Bushels of wheat. 15,000 

“ oats.. 3^000 

“ barley.... 4,000 

Tons of hay. 10,000 

Value horses. $360,000 

“ cattle. 300,000 

“ sheep.. 15,000 

“ hogs... 12,000 

Population of the valley. 2,000 

No reports from the other counties. 

Summary for the Willamette Valley. 

Acres of arable land. 3,000,000 

“ under cultivation. 516,320 

Bushels of wheat, 1863. 4,895,000 

“ oats, « . 4,560,000 

“ barley and rye 1863. 272,000 

Value of horses.$1,597,216 

cattle. 1,162,446 

“ sheep. 820,522 

“ hogs...243,170 

































29 


Hay, (no estimate) 

Corn “ “ 

Potatoes “ 

In 1864, Lane county raised 40,000 peas. 

From this statement it would appear that about one- 
sixth of the arable land in the Willamette valley is under 
cultivation, when such is not really the case, as large quan¬ 
tities of land reported as being under cultivation is simply 
fenced for pasturage. The amount under actual cultiva¬ 
tion is about one-tenth, or, say three hundred thousand 
acres. There is also fully one million more acres, not re¬ 
ported as arable land, because it is hill land, but which is 
really as good agricultural land as the hills of Pennsylva¬ 
nia or Ohio. 

Sec. 14. The above statement shows a handsome in¬ 
crease since 1846. In that year there was raised, of wheat, 
144,863 bushels, and of oats, 129,244 bushels. This does 
not show so great an increase as in the States of Illinois, 
or other Western States; but it must be borne in mind 
that Oregon has had none of the advantages with which 
those States have been favored, to increase its population 
or aid its trade. We have no railroads here, and have 
been situated in the midst and surrounded by hostile tribes 
of Indians, and nearly three thousand miles from the 
source of emigration, with arid plains, deserts, snow-cap¬ 
ped mountains, and tribes of savage Indians intervening. 

Sec. 16. Production.— Although the production per 
acre, as shown by the above statement, is very creditable 
to the State, yet the present productiveness could be vastly 
increased by a proper system of farming. The system of 
cultivation in Oregon, like it is in all other new States, is 
Exceedingly bad. While the average production of wheat 
per acre in Ohio, is sixteen bushels, is in Oregon more 
than twenty. Farming in Oregon may be very well illus- 


30 


trated by the following letter from a gentleman in Lane 
county : 

Forks of the Willamette River, 

Lane County, Oregon, 

August, 2d, 1864. 

Mr. Secretary: I have been engaged in the farming 
business for the last ten years, and I have been in almost 
every county in the State. Take the wheat and oats crop 
throughout the State, and my opinion is that it will pro¬ 
duce forty bushels per acre, w T hen put in good order; when 
half cultivated it will produce about twenty-five bushels 
per acre. The most profitable business in Oregon the last 
five years, has been making bacon for the Oregon mines. 
In the year 1862, I fatted 112 head of hogs oft from sixty 
acres sowed in peas, and I sold, in the year 1863, $1,600 
worth of bacon. Sold it in Portland, and received about 
15 cents, all round. 

The forks of the Willamette is as good soil as any I ever 
have seen, and will produce a large crop of anything that 
can grow in any other country. 

I think this is the greatest country in the world 
for lazy men to grow rich. He can work about thirty 
days in the spring and put in sixty acres of peas, and 
when they get ripe, turn in his hogs, ai#t he can lay in the 
shade and grow rich. There are about seventy farmers 
in the forks, and I may safely say that they will average 
fifty acres to the man, and farmers are doing well and are 
bound to grow rich, if they will only work a little. We 
mostly raise peas to fatten hogs on. There Jis not much 
waste about them. We turn our hogs on the peas, and 
butcher them right out of the field, and we feed from the 
first of July till the first of November. Hogs are the most 
profitable harvesters that I can put into my field. 

I will say to an eastern farmer, if he don’t think the 
above an easy way to make money, just try it and con¬ 
vince yourself. . Peas will yield forty bushels when put in 
good order. 

If any of the above will be of any benefit to you, use it 
and welcome. Yours, most respectfully, 

J. A. E. 

We fully cocur with our friend from Lane county. The 
generous soil and glorious climate of Oregon make it a 
desirable place for those who are not in love with hard 


31 


work; and if a farmer cannot make money in Oregon he 
cannot anywhere. 

Flax .—This plant grows rapidly here, and will produce, 
more seed and more and better lint per acre, than any¬ 
where else in the world. This is entirely owing to the 
favorable weather always prevailing here during the growth 
and harvesting of the plant, no rains or dews to soften, 
impair or tarnish the fibre. Flax was raised here as early 
as 1845, by Jacob Hammer, of Benton county. This 
present year Mr. Joseph Watt raised twelve acres, in Yam¬ 
hill county. There is no oil mill in the State. The con* 
struction of one would be a good investment to any one 
familiar with the business. The consumption of flax fab¬ 
rics is increasing rapidly in the United States; we are 
paying out millions of dollars annually for foreign linen 
9 goods, and the production*and manufacture of flax in this 
country is dictated by a wise economy, and will certainly 
prove remunerative. 

Sec. 17. Tobacco. — Oregon can and has produced as 

good tobacco as the best James River Leaf. If it does not 
make as good manufactured, tobacco it is solely because it 
is not properly cured. This is destined to be a profitable 
. branch of industry. 

Hemjp .—This plant grows here to an unparallelled size, 
and its fibre is (for the same reasons which apply to flax) 
unequalled in quality. 

Sec. 20. Hops .—The hop grows luxuriantly and pro¬ 
duces abundantly; indeed, there is reason to doubt 
whether any country has a climate and soil more favorable 
to it than ours. We have no heavy dews or showers in 
summer to wash off* the dust which contains the strength 
of the flower. The crop is always certain, and can always 
be safely cured in the open air. We look forward to the 


day when large quantities will be exported either in bales 
or manufactured into ales and porter. 

Sec. 20. Potatoes —The best in any country, three bun* 
dred bushels per acre, and of a flavor that cannot be 
excelled. 

Sec, 21. Kitchen Vegetables .—The vegetables for the 
ki|chen, such as cabbage, cauliflower, beets, parsnips, car" 
rots, radishes, onions, melons, squashes, pumpkins, green 
peas, beans, tomatos, asparagus, celery, cuciimburs, &c., 
thrive in Oregon as well as in any other part of the United 
States. 

Sec. 22. Fruits .—Taken as whole the State of Oregon 
is probably the best fruitgrowing State in the Union. In 
no part of the world do fruit trees grow so rapidly, bear so 
early, so regularly, and so abundantly, and produce fruit 
of such large size. Uor is there any other country where^ 
so great a variety of fruit can be produced in high excel¬ 
lence. Fruit trees in Oregon are generally as large at two 
years old as they are in Hew York or Ohio at four years. 
This is owing to the climate. 

The export of fruit from Oregon to San Francisco, Vic¬ 
toria and the Islands, has become a very large item. We 
have not been able to ascertain the precise amount, but 
we have heard the export of green apples estimated at 
100,000 boxes, for the last year. The production of fruit 
is profitable and will always continue to be so. 

Sec. 23. Sheep Husbandry and Woolen Mills .-—This has 
how become a leading item in Oregon wealth. The 
woolen mill at Salem is the oldest and the largest now 
running in the State. It has four complete sets of 
machinery, employs about fifty workmen, manufactures 
about 300,000 pounds of wool annually, and is said to be 
making $1,200 per week net profits. There is another 
manufactory at Jefferson, which is running all the time, 


33 


and making money. The largest factory in the State is 
now being erected at Oregon City, and will he driven by 
the magnificent water power at that point. The main 
buildiug is fifty-three feet in width by one hundred and 
ninety feet in length, four stories high, and will have an 
L on one side, fifty feet square. When finished, it will 
run ten complete setts of machinery, and manufacture all 
kinds of woolen goods, from army blankets up to the 
finest De Laines. • 

On the subject of sheep husbandry, we take the follow¬ 
ing extracts from the prize essay of of John Minto, Esq., 
on this subject, read before the Oregon State Fair for 1863. 
It is able, conclusive, and perfectly reliable: 

Oregon—Its Adaptation to Sheep Husbandry. 

For the health of sheep, dry upland range is necessary. 
{Taking the whole of Oregon into view, nine-tenths of the 
State may be pronounced of that character. For the feed¬ 
ing of sheep for wool raising purposes, short, sweet grasses 
and open woodland pasture are deemed the best; and full 
three-fourths of the surface of the State is composed of 
hills and plains yielding such grasses; and a large por¬ 
tion of it is open woodland. For the growth of a long, 
even, strong, and flexible staple of wool, a mild, even cli¬ 
mate (with proper feeding) is considered best; and that 
Oregon possesses in a remarkable degree. In jfact, the 
climate and natural grasses of Oregon seem to be a combi¬ 
nation of the peculiarities of England and Spain in those 
particulars, especially the climate. 

The seasons of Oregon are divided into wet and dry, 
the same as those of Spain—wet from October to April, 
and dry from April to October, while the uniformity of 
temperature between summer and winter is like that of 
England. The former country is as celebrated for its 
sheep breeding as the latter is for its sheep feeding. 

Over twenty years ago, Mr. Feale. a naturalist who 
accompanied Commodore Wilkes’ expedition to this coast 
gave it as his opinion that “ the country would become 
famous for its production of fine wool,” for the reason that 
“ the evenness of the climate enables the fur bearing ani¬ 
mals found here to carry their fine covering during the 


84 


summer months, whereas, under greater variations between 
the seasons, the same animals usually shed their furs, or 
they become mixed with hair during summer;” and for 
the further reason, that 44 the physical geography and nat¬ 
ural grasses of the country make it a natural sheep 
pasture.” 

Experience goes far to show Mr. Peale’§ opinion correct. 
In a conversation between the writer and Mr. Henry Per¬ 
kins, Chief Wool Stapler in the woolen factory at Salem, 
(a gentleman who has had large and varied experience in 
the assorting of v 7 ool) the latter said that he had never 
handled the w T ool from any country, which as a whole, was 
equal to that of Oregon as combing wool; and that during 
a term of three years as wool stapler in a De Laine fac¬ 
tory in Boston, Mass, he deemed that he did well when he 
could get from the hulk assorted 80 per cent, of w T ool fit 
for combing and manufacture into that fabric.” Of the 
wool he was then receiving—the crop of 1863, as it came 
in indiscriminately—Mr. P. said he could “get from 50 to 
60 per cent of good combing wool.” He further said, that 
44 if Oregon vmols were properly assorted here, and tbte 
combing portion graded and baled and marked according 
to its quality, and shipped to Hew 7 York or Boston, it 
V 7 ould soon draw the attention of Be Laine manufacturers 
tc this country as 'a source of supply for this most valuable 
kind of Wool.” We have other practical proof of the 
superiority of Oregon wool in the fact that San Francisco 
papers as late as the 29th of July last, quoted Oregon wool 
as selling three cents per pound above California v 7 ool sold 
oil the same day. 

The fact of the superiority of Oregon wool is an encour¬ 
aging circumstance to those engaged or about to engage 
in the raising of it. But they will never reap the full 
benefit of it so long as they allow the business men of Cal¬ 
ifornia to put their crops into market; so long as this is 
the case, the fact will be used only to spread the fame of 
California, as a wool-producing country, and so long will 
Oregon dwell in the shadoio of California , and feel the blighting 
influence . This the inevitable result, even without any 
effort on the part of California merchants. It goes from 
their port in their shipping mark; the buyer cares no 
more but to know that he is receiving a good article for 
his money, and it would be too much to expect the Cali¬ 
fornia merchant to inform his customer that it v^as the 


85 

product of another State. From past transactions, we 
have good reason to believe that they have not been con¬ 
tent with silence in this matter, but have put the name of 
Oregon on California burry wool, when there is no burr in 
Oregon. 

The question arises, what shall be done to put ourselves 
right in this matter ? I submit two propositions: 

First,, for those interested to form themselves' into an 
association "and act upon the suggestion of Mr. Perkins, 
before alluded to, to gtade and bale the next year’s crop 
of wool, and ship it directly from Portland to New York, 
or Boston. The other is, that those members of the State 
Agricultural Society particularly interested in this part of 
Agriculture furnish samples of wool from their flocks, and 
acting either through th»present officers of the Society or 
a special committee appointed for the purpose, send it to 
the agricultural department of the United States, in order 
to be scientifically tested and compared with o-ther parts of 
the Union, and the result published in the annual Agri¬ 
cultural Report. Such test will establish the superiority 
"o£ our Wool, if it is need , and draw the- attention both of the 
manufacturer and the wool raising farmer of the East who 
may be looking for a fresh field in which to pursue their 
different callings. 

The success of the Woolen manufactory at Salem, 
•started under more adverse circumstances than, it is 
believed, will ever exist again on this coast, shows plainly 
that a De Laine factory wonki he eminently successful 
here where such goods are worn throughout the year. 

And there is no doubt that there is many a farmer in 
the Middle and Western States, who, worn down by the 
■debilitating influences or miasmatic climates, would get a 
new lease of life by changing his location and becoming a 
sheep raiser under the dear skies and pure air of Eastern 
Oregon. * * ***** * 

Oregon lies on the western edge of an immense extent 
of country—reaching from Mexico to the British line.; 
from Kansas to the Pacific ocean—which, with the excep¬ 
tion of the belt between the Cascade mountains and the 
ocean, covered by parts of California Oregon, and Wash¬ 
ington Territory, is fitted for pastoral pursuits only. She 
has within her own borders a large portion of the best of 
that natural pasture. Within that, and almost surrounded 
by it, she has the largest compact body of good wheat land 
G4W— 3 


36 


on the Pacific slope ; which, surrounded and intermingled 
with never failing water power, makes the Willamette 
valley adapted by nature for the cheap support of a dense 
manufacturing population, in a three fold greater degree 
than ever was either Old or New England. She may, if 
her citizens will it, do her full share of first supplying all 
the region drained by the waters of the Columbia river 
with stock sheep, and then manufacture the wool raised 
from them and tlieir increase. She may become [to the 
north-west coast of America what England is now to the 
world, and what New England is to the United States in 
the the power of their manufacturing commerce—follow¬ 
ing the settlements as they spread to the East and North 
with her improved stock and woolen fabrics. 

• 


* 


CHAPTER IV. 

Section 24. Timber and Lumbering —No State offers so 
many inducements for engaging in the lumbering busi¬ 
ness as does Oregon, and it is only eqnaTled by Wash¬ 
ington Territory. The principl lumbering timber are the 
firs and cedars. They grow to an enormous size on the 
Columbia river, and make the most beautiful lumber. 
Besides the large amount of lumbering done at Coos Bay 
and Port Orford,in Coos and Curry counties, there are six 
vessels engaged in carrying lumber out of the Columbia 
river, making thirty-six cargoes in the year, or about 
4,000,000 feet of sawed lumber, which is exported to San 
Francisco, the Sandwich Islands, other foreign porta. 
This business is in its infancy, and from the immense for¬ 
ests of timber on the Columbia river, it is capable of being 
developed to an almost unlimited extent. The manufac¬ 
tured lumber sells readily for twenty dollars per M. 

Sec. 25. Fish and Fisheries .*—All the. rivers, bays, har¬ 
bors and inlets of Oregon abound with fish. No country 
in the world, perhaps, has so great a number of fisheries, 
and in these it possesses in itself a sure means of subsist¬ 
ence at a low price, and a great source of wealth. The 
salmon run twice a year, beginning in May and October. 
The largest are taken in the Columbia river, the average 
size being about twenty pounds. All the bays abound 
with sturgeon, cod, carp, flounders, perch, herring, crabs 
-and oysters; while the inland and mountain streams are 
filled with the sportsman’s “ speckled beauties ”—moun¬ 
tain trout. The production of oysters is encouraged by 
the legislature ; and the principal oyster beds in Oregon 
are at Tillamook and Aquina Bays. Th ere bow 


about 2,500 barrels salmon annually put up at the little? 
fisheries on the Columbia river, whereas there might just 
as well be 50,000 or 100,000 barrels put up every year. 
The Salmon sell readily for ten dollars per barrel. East¬ 
ern people will doubtless wonder why our lumbering and 
fishery interests are not better developed. The answer is 
plain: we have had too many mines of gold and silver to 
turn the heads of our people. Men will desert an old fash¬ 
ioned, steady business, no matter how profitable, and run 
wild to “ take their chances ” on a mine. We need a large 
immigration of laborers and actual settlers. 

Salt Springs .—Oregon is possessed of salt springs suffi¬ 
cient to afford salt enough for home consumption, and a 
large amount for export. The largest and best springs are 
near St! Helens, Columbia county; but there are also 
good springs on Evans creek, in Jackson county, and on 
Slate creek, in Josephine county. One single spring near 
St. Helens is reported to throw a constant stream of water 
four inches in diameter, and of sufficient strength to make 
a half pound of good, pure, fine salt, to each gallon of 
water. At this rate that spring would afford twenty-five 
or thirty tons of.salt daily. There is reported nearly a 
hundred salt springs on the Columbia river, near St. Hek 
ens, and at only one of them are there any means to .man¬ 
ufacture salt, and there only in- limited quantities. Here 
is a good opening for business. 

Sec. 27. Turpentine , Tar and Rosin. '— On this subject,, 
we insert a communication from Messrs. T. A. Wood & 
Co., of Portland, who are largely engaged in manufactur¬ 
ing these articles from Oregon pitch :• 

Portland, Oregon, Sept. 1 , 186J. 

Sir —The wealth and resources of Oregon, when once 
fully developed, will far exceed the most sanguine expecta¬ 
tions of her strongest friends. With strong faith in her 
hidden wealth, I hate sought to make her fir forests snb~ 


39 

servethe wants of man, and with better success than could 
have well been expected. 

Fir Balsam — Supply, fic. 

Every day more fully demonstrates the fact that the sup¬ 
ply of crude turpentine is inexhaustible, and the probabil¬ 
ities are that this supply will never grow less, from 
two facts: 

1st. The forests best suited and richest in balsam are 
those rough mountain sides that the farmer ean never 
reduce to tillage. 

2d. The trees, when robbed of their accumulated sup¬ 
ply will, like the “busy bee,” commence the work of 
replenishing their stores, or refilling the cavities or 
“ shakes,” to be annually or semi-annually robbed. 

From the above crude article, we manufacture turpen¬ 
tine, pitch, bright varnish, rosin and axle-grease. In the 
limited time we have been in operation, we have consumed 
21,600 gallons of crude balsam. From this our manufac¬ 
ture will approximate : turpentine, 5,000 galls.; pitch, 40Q 
barrels; bright varnish, TO barrels; axle-grease, 25 cases. 

Quality. 

We claim that the above articles are equal in quality to 
ail} 7 manufactured in or out of the United States, and not 
without proof, either. The turpentine being made from 
balsam of fir, is as far superior to pine turpentine, for med¬ 
ical use, as fir balsam is superior to pine pitch, for medical 
purposes. The Portland physicians who have tried it 
speak loudly in praise of its medical virtues. 

tinder date of July 16th, Mr. P. C. Dart, of San Fran¬ 
cisco, says : “ Your turpentine is now preferred over Cali¬ 
fornia make, and I obtained twenty-five cents on the gal¬ 
lon, in advance of price of California article. This fact is 
certainly encouraging.” 

The boat Pitch is superior to any ever shipped to this 
coast. Capt. Kellogg said, “he used on the steamer Sen¬ 
ator one barrel of State pitch, and one of Oregon pitch, 
and I would rather than one hundred dollars we had used 
all Oregon pitch. The calkers said the barrel of Oregon 
pitch was worth three of the State pitch.” 

Though our busines has not been very extensive, we . 
have opened a trade with China, Sandwich Islands, Vic¬ 
toria Island, California, and am now making a shipment 



40 


to Hew York. It is our intention to enlarge our works, 
and if we do as now designed, we will export from July, 
1865, to July, 1866, over 1,200 tons of manufactured arti¬ 
cles. In fact, the crude turpentine is in such abundance 
as to supply the world, if brought into U3e. 

Yours, &c., T. A. WOOD & Co. 

Messrs. Wbod & Co. are the pioneers in this business, 
and deserve great credit for their energy in adding another 
important branch to our industry. They have clearly 
shown the field to be a great one, there being ample room 
for thousands to engage in this business. 

Sec. 28.— Tanneries and Leather .—There are but few tan¬ 
neries in Oregon, while the means for making good leather 
are inexhaustible. Hides are plenty and cheap, while the 
supply of good oak, fir and hemlock bark for tanning is 
unlimited. Good tanners with a small amount of capital 
can do well here. 

Sec. 29. Flour Mills and Saw Mills .—The State is 
only tolerably well supplied' with these mills. The 
demand for their use is constantly increasing, and there 
are many good openings for more mills. They are all 
driven by water power ; and good water powers for such 
machinery, or an}' kind of machinery, exists in every por¬ 
tion of our State. 

Sec. 30. Building Materials .—In addition to the finest 
of fine timber in all points of the State, suitable for build¬ 
ing purposes, there is also plenty of stone suitable for 
masonry; and excellent clay everywhere for the manufac¬ 
ture of good brick. Very recently an immense deposit of 
magnesian limestone has been discovered near Astoria, at 
the mouth of the Columbia, from which a company is now 
making a superior quality of hydraulic cement. 

In Southern Oregon there are numerous fine ledges ot 
the best crystalline marble, capable of receiving the very 
highest polish. Good limestone is abundant. 


Sec. 31. Rivers for Internal Trade . — There are but two 
in the whole State—the Columbia and its affluent, the 
Willamette. The Columbia is navigable for small-sized 
ocean steamers and sailing vessels up as far as Portland, 
on the Willamette, except when the water is low in the 
summer, or when the Willamette is closed with ice. For 
several months during the summer season, the ocean 
steamers have been compelled to discharge their freight 
on lighters, or small river steamers at the mouth of the 
Willamette, on account of the low water on the bar. 
Recently the enterprising citizens of Portland have been 
making commendable efforts to improve the navigation of 
the Willamette and remove these obstructions, and it is 
hoped they will succeed* The navigation of the Colum¬ 
bia is obstructed by ice nearly every winter as far down as 
the lower mouth of the Willamette. 

From Portland, fine river steamers now ply to Oregon 
City, on the Willamette, and the Cascades, on the Colum¬ 
bia. The Cascades [rapids in the river] and the “ Dalles,” 
[other rapids above the Cascades] are now passed by a 
'•railroad. Steamers ply between the Cascades and the 
Dalles, and also run from Celilo, at the head of the Dalles 
on up the river to Lewiston, on the Snake river, in Idaho 
Territory, making the whole navigable distance from the 
mouth of the Columbia about 530 miles. For the pur¬ 
poses of navigation, the Willamette river does not amount 
to much. At Oregon City boats are stopped by the falls, 
and the portage of nearly two miles is made by a horse 
railroad. From Canemah, at the head of the falls, small 
Bteamers make a few trips up as high as Eugene City, dur¬ 
ing the freshets, a little over one hundred miles, and con¬ 
tinue to run to Salem, some thirty-five miles, for about six 
months in the year. For purposes of navigation, the Wil¬ 
lamette is .decreasing in value in the same ratio that the- 
valley is being opened up, drained, and reduced to culti- 


42 

• 

vation. This is the experience with all such streams. As 
the country is cleared, drained and plowed, the rain-fall 
collects more readily, and runs off more rapidly, and the 
stream soon discharges the whole surplus water of the 
rain-fall. The upper Ohio river affords a striking example 
of this truth ; and it teaches us that we ought not to rely 
on this little wet weather stream as a means of transport¬ 
ation for the Willamette valley, hut to look to the con¬ 
struction of a railroad. 

Sec. 32. Water Powers.^No State in the Union affords 
so many, so varied, and so valuable water-powers as are to 
be found in the Willamette valley alone. The reason of 
this is, the valley being surrounded on three sides by 
mountains, from which come down mountain streams, and 
in crossing the valley the means for creating good water 
power is afforded by the numerous falls, rapids and natural 
descent of the stream. At Oregon City the w.hole of the 
water in the Willamette river may be used for driving 
machinery by cutting a sufficient canal, the falls in 
the river being about thirty feet in a few hundred yards. 
But this means of wealth abounds in every county in the 4 
State, and we need not multiply instances. It is worthy 
the most earnest attention of manufacturing capitalists. 

Sec. 33. Springs and Running Streams .— From the 
foregoing description of Oregon, the reader will be pre¬ 
pared to credit the statement that no country in the world 
is so well watered with living streams of water, and per¬ 
ennial springs, as the valleys of Oregon. This is so, and 
no one that has ever travelled through the State will 
gainsay the statement. The water is pure and cold as the 
little brooks on the sides of the snow-capped mountains. 
For this, among other reasons, Oregon is the healthiest 
place to be found in any country. 


44 


//tv] , . / . V , , v, ,■/ • ... „.,r 

CHAPTER V. 

Sec. 34. Manufactures. —The State of Oregon is as yet 
but poorly supplied with manufacturing establishments; 
and no State in the Union offers so many advantages for 
such enterprises, and so many openings for profitable 
investments. The manufacturing establishments proper 
are confined to flouring mills, saw-mills, and three woolen 
mills.There is also one turpentine manufactory, a few small 
tanneries, and three or four small foundries and machine 
shops. The manufacture of earthen vessels from clay, has 
been commenced on a very small scale, and with good 
success. Nearly all the fine furniture is imported. The 
cabinet shops are few and small. Our agricultural imple¬ 
ments, wagons, carriages, omnibuses and coaches are 
mostly imported, and when they are made here, imported 
timber is used. There is no tub or bucket factory in the 
State; none for the manufacture of brooms or brushes; 
None for an extensive manufacture of boots, shoes, or 
clothing; none for the manufacture of cotton or flax; 
(The woolen factories were noticed above); but a single 
soap factory in the State worthy the name; no ale, beer, 
or porter, or bottling establishment. We tan no fine calf 
skin, morocco, or kid. We make no gunpowder, window- 
glass, or paper of an}’ description. We have no oil refine¬ 
ries or candle-makers. We have no furnaces for smeltiug 
iron-ore, and no forges to make unwrought iron or steel, 
while iron ore equal to the best in the world exists in great 
abundance. We make no kind of glass-ware or fine crock¬ 
ery. All our cutlery, stoves, cast Iron, fire arms, cooking 


44 


utensils, nails, screws, locks, hinges, copper-ware, and 
copper and lead pipe, lead and shot, wire, tin, zinc, 
sheathing metal, ropes, cordage, matches, ink, blank 
hooks, hardware, willow ware, edge tools, yeast powders, 
and numberless other articles, are all imported. 

Manufacturing establishments for the most of the above 
list, would find a profitable trade now. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Sec. 35. Places of Public Resort. — The unequalled coast 
and mountain scenery of Oregon afford many delightful 
places for our' citizens to resort for health aud recreation 
during the summer months. The two places most resort¬ 
ed to by the citizens of the Willammette valley, are Clat¬ 
sop Beach, a short distance south of the mouth of the 
Columbia, and “Aquina Bay,” on the coast in Benton 
county. 

At Clatsop, there is a good hotel and other conveniences 
for visitors; and a good hotel is about being erected at 
Aquina. At both places the sportsman and pleasure 
seeker may indulge his fancy in fishing or hunting—there 
being plenty of game of all kinds. The popular resort 
in Southern Oregon is the Soda Springs, at the head of 
Rogue river valley, or rather on the mountain above the 
valley. The water in the Springs is equal to the best soda 
water, and th'ey are visited for their medical properties; 
while at the same time the visitor is placed in a cool 
mountain region, abounding in all kinds of game from 
grouse to grizzly bear. 

Sec. 36. Hunting. — Oregon is a paradise to the game 
hunter. Game abounds throughout the whole State. A 
large number of black tail deer have been shot within the 
last few days within a mile of the Capital of the State. 

The principal game quadrupeds and birds of Oregon 
are grizzly, black, brown and cinnamon bear; elk, deer, 
antelope, hare, rabbit; the white goose, common wild 
geese; the canvas back, mallard, sprigtail, spoonbill and 
summer ducks; the mountain partridge, valley quail, 


46 


pheasant and grouse. Nobody hunts the grizzly—he is to 
dangerous, although quite a number are killed every year 
in Southern Oregon. 

Sec. 37. Far-Bearing Animals .—Of the fur-bearing an¬ 
imals, there are large numbers of beaver, otter, foxes, 
minks, &c., and but few persons engaged in trapping 
them. 

Of other animals, there are panthers, California lions, 
cougars, wild cats,wolves, coyotes, mountain sheep, eagles, 
a great variety of hawks, cranes, squirrels, rattlesnakes, 
pigeons and other small birds. 


IP 


CHAPTER VlL 

MINES AND MlJTINGi 

Sec. 38. Mining Districts. —Mining is now, and frill 
fever continue to be one Of the leading interests of the 
State. Its extent and importance cannot be calculated 
now, atid will not be properly developed during the next 
quarter of a century. Valuable mines have already been 
discovered in all the mountain fanges in the State; and 
frheil we look at the extent of mountainous country yet 
unexplored and lying between the rich mines already 
found, and consider the mines now passed by as worthless 
which will become immensely valuable as labor, machin¬ 
ery and transportation becomes cheaper, the mind can 
form no estimate of the interests embraced in this chapter, 
Vo. have gold, silVef, Copper, iron, lead and coal mines 
that arc now worked. Eastern add Southern Oregon are 

^ O 

now the principal mining districts. 

Sec. 39. Gold .—This precious metal has been very 
generally distributed by the hahd of nature throughout 
the whole State.- It has been found in the sand on the 
bed-rock or the 'Willamette river and nearly all the 
branches putting into it from the Cascade mountains*— 
but, as yet, not in quantities sufficient to pay the miner.— 
ft is found in Southern Oregon, in the Umpqua river and 
its branches, some places in paying quantities; in the Co- 
quillc river in paying quantities ; in the sea heacli sand in 
paying quautitities; on Rogue river and its branches in 
paying quantities; on the Illinois river and its branches 
in paying quantities; in Eastern Oregon it is found in 
paying quantities on the John Day, Powder, Crooked, 


i 

Umatilla, Grand Ronde and Owyhee rivers; In all places* 
where it is said to be in paying quantities, miners are now 
engaged in mining for it. Speaking of gold mines gener- 
erally on the Pacific coast, is meant placer mines (where 
the loose gold dust is found in the sand and earth along 
the streams.) There is also on the Santiam river, a branch 
of the Willamette, in Southern and in Eastern Oregon 
gold bearing quartz veins ; and it is generally belived that 
all the gold in the streams has been detached by the action 
of the elements from these gold-bearing quartz veins. In 
the Owyhee and on the Santiam, the quartz rock contains 
both gold and silver, and some of the veins are of fabu¬ 
lous richness', some yielding as high as $6,000 per ton of 
rock. 

The Santiam mining district has been but lately discov¬ 
ered, and its prospects are very flattering. It contains not 
only gold and silver, but also valuable mines of copper 
and lead, and its nearness to the farmers of the Willamette 
valley, its excellent water power and unlimited supply of 
fine timber*, all tend to give its mines more than ordinary- 
value. It contains already one town, several quartz mills 
and about one hundred miners engaged in developing the 
different mines. The ore in these mines assays from $20 
to $10,000 per ton. Some of the mines in Eastern Oregon 
have been opehed about two years, and are now yielding 
regularly large amounts of dust* The principal mines 
are upon the John Day, Powder and Owyhee rivers. Their 
discovery has led to that part of tke Sate a very large and 
enterprising population-^-probably not less than 15,000 
persons. Since their discovery, four new counties have 
been organized, and large towns have srisen in the place 
of the Indian camps. Canyon City, the largest towh, con¬ 
tains now about 5,000 inhabitants. 

Gold was discovered in Jackson county, Southerh Ore¬ 
gon, about the year 1850, and the mines have been work- 


49 


ed uninterruptedly ever since, producing about one million 
dollars annually. 

Sec. 40. Silver .-^'The silver mines in Oregon are con¬ 
sidered the most permanent and reliable, and therefore, 
the most desirable for investment. They also require ex¬ 
pensive mills and reduction works to procure the metal 
from the ore, and on this account offer special inducements 
to large capitalists. Some of the mines in the Owyhee 
region are so rich as to yield globules of silver freely when 
subjected to the heat ot a blacksmith s forge ; and are now 
so far developed as to commence shipping bullion in bars. 
The mines in the Santiam are not so rich, but from their 

advantageous location are considered equally valuable._- 

There are some silver bearing quartz veins in Southern 
Oregon, but for the want of capital to properly develop 
them they are not attended to. 

No better field for successful speculations or permanent 
profitable investments exists anywhere than in the silver 
mines in Oregon. This statement is not believed outside 
of Oregon, and will not be credited until it is fully inves¬ 
tigated, yet it is nevertheless true. Oregon has always 
been overshadowed by California, and Eastern people 
know nothing of the Pacific coast except what they see 
through Californian interests. Even the immense shipments 
of gold dust from Oregon during the past year, amounting to 
not less than $1,000,000 per month is all credited to Califor¬ 
nia when it reaches New York. The Washoe silver mines 
in Nevada Territory, all owned by Californians, being 
the first silver mines discovered in the American posses¬ 
sions of the Pacific, has so far attracted all the attention of 
Eastern capitalists. Yet the writer hazards nothing, from 
present appearances, in saying that the silver mines of 
Owyhee and Santiam in Oregon will soon be successful 
rivals of the far-famed Washoe. All the people of Oregon* 
desire on this question, is a fair investigation. 


Sec. 41. Copper .—Oregon is undoubtedly rick in Vallt* 
able copper mines. The Pacific coast call how boast of 
the richest copper mine in the World—proven to be such— 
the Union mine at Copperopolis, California. The copper 
range does not stop in California, but like the precious 
metals runs entirely across Oregon from south to north. 
The largest and most valuable copper mine yet discovered 
in Oregon is doubtless the “ Queen of Bronze ” in Jo- 
aephine county. The Vein of ore is fifteen fbet Wide at 
the outcrop, and at the depth of thirty feet widens out to 
nearly fifty feet. The ore assays about twenty per cent, 
copper. It is owned by a company of French capitalists, 
who propose to erect smelting works at the mine. There 
are several other gOod mines ih Josephine county, but 
their Value is greatly decreased oil account of the long 
distance which the ore and tnetal will have to be trans¬ 
ported to reach the seti Coast; arid this State of affairs 
must always continue to be the case Until a railroad is con¬ 
structed from the Columbia to, the Sacramento river.— 
Valuable discoveries of copper have beeh recently made 
at “Painted- Rock,” on Rogue river, some twenty-five miles 
from the ocean. Should they prove permanent, they will 
prove the most valuable mines, on account of the easy and 
cheap transportation which will he afforded by ocean ves¬ 
sels running to the mouth of the river, and small river 
steamers connecting and running up to the mines. Com¬ 
panies are now engaged in developing them. Veins of 
copper ofe assaying 22J per cent, copper, with thirty-four 
dollars in silver per ton of ore, has been discovered and 
are now being developed in the Santiam district. Large 
quantities of native or pure copper, together with rich ore 
has been discovered on the Coquille river in Coos county ; 
but as yet no regular vein has been identified. Veins of 
copper have also been found on the Umpqua river in 


51 

So tig] as county, A very rich vein of copper has been 
discovered on Powder river in Baker county, and has been 
traced several miles. At all of these mines but little work 
has been done, and money to develop them is badly 
needed. 

Sec. 42. Iron .— This most useful of all the metals ex¬ 
ists in Oregon in great abundance. Immense beds and 
vein3 of it are found in Washington, Multnomah, Jack- 
son, Josephine and Curry counties. In Southern Oregon 
it is not considered of any value, and is not claimed or 
owned by any one. Tlie mine in Washington county is 
owned and held for speculation. It is located about six 
miles from the Willamette river and is really of value 
now. A small furnace has been erected and the ore tested 

and found to be equal to the celebrated Swedes iron._ 

Some of the ore is so pure as to be capable of working 
into horse shoes without the aid of a reduction furnace. 

Sec. 43. Lead .—'This metal has been found in abun¬ 
dance in Jackson, Josephine and Curry counties and in 
the Santiam mining district, but always in conjunction 
with other metals. On account of its low price, and the 
difficulty of working the ores in which it is found, no at¬ 
tempt has ever been made to work any mine for lead. 

Sec. 44. Coal. — Very good bituminous coal exists at 
several points in the State. The first, discovery was made 
at Coos Bay, and lias already been described by Mr. 
Mann. The same coal formation has been discovered near 
Cartwright’s near the head of the Willamette valley,, 
where the vein is several feet in thickness. A four foot 
vein of very hard coal has been discovered in the foothills 
of the Siskiyou in Jackson county. Good coal has also 
been discovered at several points in Columbia county near 
St. Helens. The rush of immigration, and the increasing 
tide of prosperity will soon render these coal deposits of 
value. 

gaw— 4 


CHAPTER VIII. 


ADVANTAGES FOR COMMERCE. 

Sec. 45. Internal Trade and Tributary Territory. — The 
internal trade of Oregon will always be confined to the 
trade between the agricultural counties in the William- 
ette, Umpqua and Rogue river valleys, and the mining 
counties of Eastern Oregon and Idaho Territory, and will 
consist simply in the transportation of the produce and 
manufacture of one section to the other, to be there 
exchanged for the bullion or coin of the mines ; and will 
be carried on by means of a railroad to be constructed 
through the Willamette valley, terminating at some point 
on the Columbia, from which river steamers will ply as 
far up as the center of Idaho. To satisfy the most incred¬ 
ulous that this trade will be rapidly and greatly enlarged, 
we have only to look at its present-rapid growth, the ter¬ 
ritory to be accommodated, and its resources. Scarcely 
two years ago and not a ton of freight passed up the 
Columbia above the Dalles, except to supply government 
posts, and now not less than one hundred and forty tons per 
day are being carried up for the newly collected population. 
The extent of country which is tributary to the agricultu- 
ral' resources of Oregon is embraced in all that country 
from the summit of the Rocky mountains westward to the 
Cascade range, and between the head-waters of the north¬ 
ern and southern branches of the great Columbia, and 
reaching from the head of the Owyhee on the south, away 
north to the Kootenai river and its lately discovered rich 
mines on the borders of British America, being an extent 
of country about 900 miles long and 800 miles wide, or 


53' 


720,000 square miles. This vast and as yet almost unex^ 
red territory, is by’ no means barren or inhospitable, 
e Catholic missionaries have maintained their missions 
among the Indians at the farthest point north for many 
years, raising all the vegetables and grain necessary for 
their use. Throughout the whole extent there are now 
mining settlements, spreading in every direction. What 
was two years ago a vast, unbroken wilderness, inhabited 
only by wild beasts and Indians, now contains not less 
than thirty thousand American citizens, with cities and 
towns, saw mills, quartz mills, flouring mills, with all the 
busy hum of peaceful industry. And from this great 
internal, mountain-locked basin, is now being shipped 
down the Columbia one million dollars of gold dust per 
month, in exchange for the flour, bacon, beans and mer¬ 
chandise sent up. This handsome yield of gold will, 
according to the present rate of progress , be increased to two 
and a half or three millions per mouth in 1865. To give our 
readers an idea of the giant strides that the country east ot 
the Cascades is making, we copy from the Mountaineer a 
description of a monster warehouse now incourse of con¬ 
struction at Celilo, above the Dalles. The Mountaineer says : 

44 The dimensions of the building are as follows : Length 
915 feet; extreme breadth, 31 feet. This building com¬ 
mences at the low water level, and gradually recedes its 
entire length, thus aflerding a landing for steamers at the 
highest as well as the lowest stages of water. The whole 
structure is substantially anchored, so as to withstand the 
force of wind and water, and is in all respects secure 
against even the worst freshet. To put up this building 
requires 250,000 feet of lumber, and 270,000 shingles. 
The hardware, nails, &c., we have not computed. The 
size of this warehouse, to be used exclusively for receiving 
and storing goods, will serve to give the reader some idea 
of the rapidly extending business of the O. S. N. Com¬ 
pany. A few years since all the business of the upper 
country was passed over the portage by means of a few 
44 Cayusc ” teams, and a single boat—the Colonel Wright 


plo 


54 


-—sufficed to carry all the freight that offered. Now eight 
boats — the majority of them first-class vessels — are 
employed in the trade, and instead of light teams drawn 
by miniature horses, we have long trains of railroad cars 
laden down with the products of all countries and every 
clime. It is in improvements like this that we trace the 
evidence of our progress, and learn how rapidly we are 
are gathering around us the appliances of the highest 
civilization,” 

When we look forward to the day when busy millions 
will occupy this territory we have been describing, what 
then ought to be the glorious prosperity of Oregon ? A 
glorious future awaits us; shall we not deserve it, by 
making use of the means necessary to command it. In 
order to command it, we ought to have a railroad running 
through and connecting the Willamette, Umpqua, and 
Rogue river valleys, with the Columbia river, and some 
steamboat competition on that river. A railroad through 
these valleys is now the greatest want of the State 
—the interest of the farmers positively demand it. So- 
long as we are without this advantage, we will not be able 
to compete wuth California, even, for the great provision 
markets of these ming districts. 

Sec. 46. Foreign Commeree. — Oregon posseses peculiar 
facilities for the creation and maintaining of a large for¬ 
eign commerce. She possesses unlimited means for build¬ 
ing ships—timber, copper, iron, coal, water power, agri¬ 
cultural productions, a harbor equal to that of New York y 
and a maritime situation on the direct line of that im¬ 
mense trade earned on by the nations of the West with 
the nations of the East. The harbor of the Columbia 
river looks out upon the ports of Russian America, British 
Columbia and Vancouver Island, the west coast of Mexico,. 
Central America, New Granada, Equador, Peru, Chili and 
Patigonia on the American Continent; and on the East¬ 
ern ports of the Russian Empire, India, China, Japan,. 


55 


Australia, the Islands of Oceanica, the Sandwich Islands, 
and the whale fisheries. The ports of all these countries 
are much nearer to the Columbia river than they are to 
any of the ports of the Atlantic States. They are all of 
easy access to us and there is no reason why Oregon 
should not soon commence competing for their trade. In 
the year 1860 the United States exported to the above 
named ports domestic produce amounting to the sum of 
$19,645,998, and imported from the same places, in ex¬ 
change, the produce of said countries amounting to $19,- 
551,186. The imports from China alone amounted to 
$13,566,587. But we are told that the Pacific coast can¬ 
not compete with the Atlantic States for this trade. The 
custom house exhibit shows that the Pacific coast can and 
does compete for this trade already, and not only this, but 
also the trade to Liverpool. We copy from the “Market 
Review” of the San Francises Bulletin under date of July 
11,1864: 


Exports of Wheat and Flour from San Francisco for Har¬ 
vest Year , Ending June 30, 1864. 


To 

Wheat. 

ska. 

Flour. 

bbla. 

Equal lo 
bbis. Flour. 

Englaud . 

China. 

.. 813,553 

2,507 

273,691 

.. 161,574 

53,246 

107,104 

Japan. 

84 

1,236 

1,264 

Australia. 

.. 90,890 

62,337 

93,634 

Victoria, V. I. 

.. 3,809 

29,914 

28,184 

Hawaiian Islands . 

121 

4,699 

4,739 

Mexico . 

15 

11,943 

. 11,948 

Peru . 

260 

— 

87 

H. Y. and Boston . 

.. ■— 

9 

9 

Other countries. 

986 

20,211 

20,539 

Total .. 

. 1,071,292 

184,102 . 

541,199 














56 


FROM JANUARY 1, TO JUNE 30, 1864. 


England . 

Wheat 

ske. 

. 279,06.7 

Flour. 

bbls. 

286 

Equal to 
bbls. Flour. 

93,308 

China. 

62,772 

23,696 

44,620 

Japan. — 

— 

924 

924 

Australia. * 

57,558 

18,259 

37,445 

Victoria, V. I.. 

930 

12,845 

13,155 

Hawaiian Islands. ... 

121 

1,911 

1,951 

Mexico . 

15 

5,796 

5,801 

1ST. Y. and Boston... 

— 

7 

7 

Other countries. 

886 

9,779 

10,075 

Total. 

..401,349 

73,503 

207,286 

Victoria. 

Exports of Barley . 

Harvest Year, 
ske. 

.20,545 

First Half, 1864. 
sks. 

7,935 

Hew York. 


.10,841 

4,768 

Australia . 


. 8,082 

— 

China . 


. 200 

100 

Mexico . 


. 556 

361 

Hawaiian Islands... 


. 10 

10 

Other countries .... 

... 

. 36 

— 

Total . 


. 40,270 

13,174 

Australia .. 

Exports of Oats. 

Harvest Y'ear. 
sk,s. 

. 80,849 

First Half, 1864. 
sks. 

20,529 

China . 


. 4,133 

1,239 

Victoria . 

\ 

. 4,698 

792 

Hawaiian Islands ... 


. 976 

357 

Japan . 


. 313 

200 

Mexico. 


. 96 

85 

Other countries. 


. 25 

14. 

Total. 


.91,090 

23,216 


Wool 

Our exports of wool for the past six months, and also 
































57 

for the corresponding periods of 1861, 1862 and 1863 were 


as follows : 

1861. 1862. 186^. 1864. 

Bales. Bales. Bales. Bales. 

New York.5,074 4,853 2,253 5,052 

Boston...'..1,547 2,888 3,709 2,23 { 7 

England . 252 55 52« — 

China. — 63 — — 

Valpairaso.. — 546 — — 


Total.. 6,873 8,410 6,014 7,289 


Exports of Hides. 

Our exports of hides for the past six months and also 
for the corresponding periods of 1861, 1863, were as 
follows : 

1861. 1862. 1863. 1864. 

First six months-.,.90,385 178,635 125,561 371,362 

These figures show a very marked increase in shipments 
as compared with previous seasons. At present quotable 
at f2@,12J for dry. 


Exports of Rap. 


Victoria. 

Harvest year. 
Bales. 

. 3,781 

First half. 1864 
Bales. 

1,173 

China. 

.i fc . 644 

350 

Mexico... 

. 29 

27 

Hawaiian Islands. 

. 12 

12 

Other countries .. 

. 310 

145 

Total..,.,.,.,..,...,.... 

. 4,77$ 

1,707 

Exports of Beans. 

Harvest year. 

First half, 1864 

To 

Sacks. 

Sacks. 

Boston... 

. 8,640 

8,640 

New York... 


8,640 

Victoria.. 

. 4,352 

2,938 

China. 

. 2,172 

1,393 

Japan.. 

. 322 

251 

Peru. 

. 100 

100 

Austrailia... 

. 26 

26 

Mexico. 

. 69 

15 

Other countries..,.,. 

. 208 

178 

Total. 

. 21,594 

17,542. 





























58 


Exports of Potatoes . 


To 

Harvest year. 
Sacks. 

First lialff, 1864 
Sks. &- bxs. 

China . 

... 7,096 

336 

Hawaiian Islands. 

. 4,669 

2,270 

Mexico. - — 

. 2,957 

1,509 

Victoria.!. 

.. 1,230 

200 

Austrailia . 

.... 1,090 

240 

Japan . 

104 

104 

Other countries. 

. . 4,681 

2,015 

Total..... 

. 21,827 

6,674 


Exports of Bran. 

Our receipts of bran during the harvest year ending 
June 30, 1864, were48,965 sacks; and during the past six 
months, 19,309 sacks. Our exports of same during the 
past six months have been: To Victoria* 4,128 sacks ; to 
Australia, 598 sacks; to Hawaiian Islands, 33 sacks; total 
4,759 sacks. The price of this article has ruled high all 
the season, and has been a source of great profit to our 
millers; at present worth $35@$40 ^ ton. 

The Bulletin reporter further says : 

Our export trade during the period under consideration 
shows an improvement as compared with the first six 
months of the preceding year. 

The following shows the destination and value of our 
exports, in comparison with like periods in 1862 and 1863 : 


To 1862. 1863. 1864. 

New York and Boston $1,450,820 99 $1,548,698 01 $2,275,495 97 

England. 377,967 99 709,697 15 512,371 60 

Mexico. 371,759 03 1.034,742 06 976,032 87 

Peru. 141,115 87 99,663 20 155,657 72 

Hawaiian- Islands. 130,806 42 166,444 49 277,359 32 

China. 304,730 69 646,935 64 697,765 33 

Australia. 93,696 18 180,988 58 335,902 22 

Victoria. 1,172,447 87 931,064 30 822,771 68 

Japan. 4,578 00 19,622 16 38,083 32 

Other countries. 494,768 61 824,608 84 246,254 28 


Total. . $4,542,728 61 $6,183,464 52 $6,337,090 38 


It will appear from the foregoing table that our exports 
have largely increased to domestic Atlantic ports. Our 
shipments to Australia and Hawaiian Islands, Peru, China, 
and Japan have also improved. The increasing activity 























59 


of our trade with New York and Boston is of some inter¬ 
est, and is mainly owing to shipments of Wool, Copper 
Ore, and hides, which products with us are growing in 
importance. Another feature in this connection has been 
the transhipment of teas, t>il, Japan rags, etc., sent hither 
from other countries. 

How much of this produce exported from San Francisco 
should be credited to Oregon, we are not able to say ; but 
that a large portion of it is Oregon produce, we know from 
the fact that, the steamers and sailing vessels plying 
between San Francisco and the Columbia river, always 
return to California freighted with Oregon produce. 
We simply give this report to show what has already 
been done in foreign exportations from San Fran¬ 
cisco ; and even supposing that it is all California produce 
we know very well that what will pay a California farmer 
to ship abroad, will also pay an Oregon farmer, with equal 
advantages. 

The only matter that should now prevent the Pacific 
coast from becoming the importers to the United States of 
the teas, coffee, spices, barks, dye-woods, cotton, sugar, 
rice, Japanese ware, mattting, gold and silver, of the above 
named countries, is, that we have not yet got the ships, or 
money to do this business. For the year ending June 1st, 
1864, Shanghse, China, exported more than $25,000,000 
worth of cotton ; and now we should endeavor to exchange 
our produce for this cotton of China, and manufacture it 
here in Oregon, and build up a Lowell on the Pacific. 

This golden harvest of trade is not yet ours, but when 
our Northern Pacific Pailroad shall have been completed 
to Puget sound, it will become ours from the necessity of 
the case. What we want most now is a line of ships run¬ 
ning direct from New York to the Columbia river, bring¬ 
ing out our merchandise, and carrying back via China and 
the East Indies, our produce, lumber, and spars, &c. We 
are now paying an immense annual tax to California capi- 


60 


tal apd enterprise, by receiving and shipping everything 
through the San Francisco warehouses. All our wheat, 
woqI, &c., that roaches a foreign market, except what little 
direct trade we have.with the Sandwich Islands, is shipped 
firstttp San Francisco, where it has: tojpay*wharfage, dray- 
age, storage and commission, before it can be reshipped. 
Our merchandise coming to this State;has to pass through 
the,-same taxing process at San Franeis^o,'in addition to 
the. profits of the-importer, before it. It is np-.w’onde* that 
Oregon is in the shade of California; and it. ought to 
regain,so as long as we will not make sppie efiort to rem¬ 
edy this state of affairs. 

A treaty of reciprocity between the’United States and 
the'Sandwich Islands, by which free tradejconld be estab¬ 
lished between the tw'o countries, as is now T desired bv 
‘Islands,.-\yould be of immense advantage to Oregon. 


CTTA'PT E R; IX . 

ORGANISATION OF SOCIETY. 

Sec. 47. 'Constitution, and Laws. —The constitution and 
laws of Oregon are very liberal to the citizen. Special 
care is taken to promote the cause of education. Seventy- 
two sections, of land are set apart for. the endowment of a 
State University; ninety thousand acres for an Agricultural 
College and sections sixteen and thyrty-sLx in every town¬ 
ship for the.benefit of the common schools of the county ; 
and the,proceeds of 500.,000 acres of public lands is also 
set apart as an irreducible school fund for the benefit of 
common, schools. Good schools and churches exist in 
every neigbovhood. By. the Constitution, no.,negro, Chi¬ 
naman or mulatto is allowed the right of suffrage. , The 
State is prohibited from, taxing stock in any coloration, 
or in any manner (save to repel invasion or suppress rebel¬ 
lion) incur a debt of more than fifty thousand dollars.— 
Counties are prohibited from taking stock or in aiding in 
any way any corporation,, or incurring, a debt of more than 
five thousand dollars. 

.Sec. 48. Society .:—The sqciety of Oregon is quite differ¬ 
ent,from that of California. We are not so “fast”— -rto use 
a .provincialism. There is,here nuich of the Western bor- 
der-State,style,. and. a large portion of Eastern people.— 
Knives and pistols and bloodshed.is not so frequent here 
as, in California. .There has never, been a mob or vigilance 
committee in the State. The people are orderly and law- 
abing. . In.no.place is society more free and cordial, and 
ready fry give a friendly reception to the stranger than in 
Oregon. . The accidentpf^-weijilth has its iufiueiiQ.c here as 


62 


elsewhere, but not to such an extent; and as the country 
is new and rushing ahead, the avenues to wealth are open 
to the poorest, and the poor man of to-day may be wealthy 
next year. 

Sec. 49. Public Debt and Taxes. — The Governor in his 
late annual message announced that the State was out of 
debt, and had thousands in its treasury. The taxes are 
quite light for the circumstances of the country. The es¬ 
timated State tax for the next fiscal year is placed at $145,- 
000. The taxable property in the State for the year 1863 
amounted to $20,911,931. 

Sec. 50. Circulating Medium .—The circulating medium 
of the State prior to the issue of Treasury notes by the 
General Government,was exclusively gold and silver—the 
principal currency in large business transactions being 
twenty dollar gold pieces. Since the issue of these Treas¬ 
ury notes, they have been received into the circulation at 
so much per cent, on the dollar, varying according to the 
premium on gold at New York at the time. They have 
thus circulated here as low as forty cents on the dollar.— 
Some dishonest debtors have availed themselves of them 
to pay their debts contracted on a coin basis, with “ legal 
tenders ” at par. Such men are published in the news¬ 
papers as “greenback men,” and are treated as unworthy 
of confidence thereafter, unless he publishes a good excuse 
for the transaction. A “Specific Contract Law” has been 
enacted by the late Legislature compelling men who 
agree to pay in gold to do so. Banks for the issue of 
paper money are prohibited by the Cons.titution. 

Sec. 51. Opportunities for Investment. — This State offers 
to Eastern and European capitalists many favorable oppor¬ 
tunities for desirable investments. The titles to real estate 
are perfect and unquestioned, and in this respect Oregon 
has a great advantage over California, where the titles are 


63 


mostly founded on old Mexican and Spanish grants, and 
are involved in endless litigation. In addition to this our 
copper, silver, gold and coal mines, offer the most attract¬ 
ive property for investment. The prosperity of the coun¬ 
try being founded on undoubted great natural resources 
of wealth, the stock in railroads hereafter projected through 
it, .will be safe and remunerative. 

Sec. 52. Indians , Chinese and Kanakas .—There are yet ’ 
in Oregon some five or six thousand Indians. They 
have all been treated with, except the Snakes in the south¬ 
eastern corner of the State, and are now upon reservations 
and under the control of the government; and are now 
no longer any source of annoyance to the people. Of Chi¬ 
nese and Kauakas there are propably one thousand in the 
State—nearly all of the thousand being Chinese. The 
Chinese are very industrious, economical, make money 
and return to the Celestial Empire* to spend their days.— 
Iu the mining districts they follow the business of mining 
for gold—at other places they form the cooks, servants and 
washermen of the community. The “Kanakas” are na¬ 
tives of the Sandwich Islands—very closely resemble the 
American negroes, and are ill-disposed to work or follow 
any regular pursuit. 

Skc. 53. « Wages, Price of Land , £c. —The wages of 
common laborers (coin prices) are about two dollars per 
day: mechanics four dollars per day; master mechanics 
five dollars per day ; type setters, 75 cts. per thousand ems; 
salesmen, §100 per month; book keepers, from §1,000 to 
§2,000 per year; teachers, from §50 to §150 per month 
female house-servants, §30 per month. These prices apply 
to the Willamette valley and Southern Oregon—-east of 
the Cascade mountains the wages are about double the 
above rates. 

Well improved farms in the Willamette valley or South- 


64 


ern ’Oregon can be purchased for frbm 1 : $$ to $16' per acre, 
(coin)—owing to location. Good unimproved land for $5 
per acre, in these valleys. Government land and State 
land (of which the State has 500,000 aci'eS tolerable good 
land) can be purchased at $1,25 per acre in Treasury 
notes. Probably the best investment in’real estate, unim¬ 
proved, would be in the timber lands 'oil the Columbia 
river. These possess a positive wealth, and can never be 
worth less than the value of the timber standing.now in 
the solitude of the original forests. 


GENERAL SUMMARY. 

When we take a survey, of the countries lying on the ' 
Pacific ocean, and whose ports are now'open to our pro- ~ 
duce and invite our trade, and consider the capacity of our 
State to monopolize, almost, the trade‘to such ports, it 
opens up*a field for the speculations of tile statesman and 
political economist too gigantic for computation. The 
ancient civilization oPthe East, and the mighty , energies of 
the Russian Empire, and the civilization of the enterpris¬ 
ing and enlightened' nations of the west, aiid the no less 
mighty energies of the United States, are’now meeting and 
confronting each other from the opposite fehdrcf of the great 
Pacific. The author of the “YestigeS of Creation” 
expressed the opinion thirty years ago,' that the narrow 
strip of agricultural country lying on tlie Pacific coast 
north of Mexico, in the course of time wbtild become the 
most densely populated portion of the-’ earth’s surface. 
The progress made in the last thirty yearsy'is rapidly prov- - 
ing the correctness of his prophecy, an ; opinion then 
founded on the course of the tides of population, as con- ' 
trolled by the laws of nature. It will become'so. The ‘ 
march of empire in the United'States has been and will be 1 



westward^ iiffitll itls brought to a halt by the Pacific ocean, 
and condensed in the beatiful valleys we hate been 
describing. Our cool climate, northern position, good 
harbors, maritime situation, and unrivalled resources in 
metals, timber, water-power, agriculture, and all the nec¬ 
essaries of life, should make Oregon the great cbmmereial 
Htate of the Pacific. 

Having said this much for the natural resources of 
Oregon, there is ofie other consideration'that should never 
be lost sight of. Experience teaches that natural advan¬ 
tages, though never to bp underrated, scarcely ever do for 
a State or commtmity, no more than fortune or station 
does for an individual, anything like what it lies in their 
power to ’do for themselves. Neither now, nor in any 
past age, have nations possessing the best climate and soil 
been either the richest or the most powerful: hut, as 
regards the mass of the p:ople, generally among the poor¬ 
est. Successful production, like most ofher kinds.of suc¬ 
cess, depends more upon the abilities and disposition of 
the human ageuts, than oil the circumstances which sur¬ 
round them; and it is difficulties , not facilities, that nourish 
bodily and mental energy. Accordingly, the tribes which 
have overrun and conquered others, and compelled them 
to labor for their benefit, have either been bred in the for¬ 
ests of a northern climate, or the deficiency of natural 
hardships has been supplied, as among the Greeks and 
Itomans, by the artificial ones of well ordained laws and 
rigid military discipline. And from the time when the 
circumstances of modern society has permitted the discon¬ 
tinuance of that discipline, or abolished those laws, 
the south has no longer produced prosperous or con¬ 
quering nations; and commercial enterprise and industrial 
prosperity, as well as military vigor and . speculative 
thought have always had their principal' seats in the less 
favored North.' 


66 


Oregonians! if you would have great prosperity and 
great wealth to our State, see to it, that you promote it by 
good laws, good government, and proper rewards to indi¬ 
vidual faithfulness, integrity and success. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 

The following gentlemen have rendered valuable assist¬ 
ance in preparing this sketch of our State resources: Wm. 
Hoffman and C. C. Beekman, Esqrs. of Jacksonville : 
Gustaf Wilson, Esq., smd Dr. Paul D’Hienry, Josephine 
county; L. L. Williams, Esq., of Roseburg; S. G. Mann, 
Esq., of Empire City: Hon. J. H. D. Henderson, and 

-*-, of Lane county; Jacob Hammer, Esq., and 

the clerk ot Benton county; James Elkins, Esq., and B. 
Ramsay & Co., Linn county; W. C. Whitson, Esq., Polk 
county ; Hon. Henry Warren, Joseph Watt, Judge Adams 
and Jackson Lippincott,Esq., Yamhill county; Hon. Jno. 
Minto, of Marion county; W. C. Johnson, Esq., and 
Clerk of the Court of Clackamas; H. C. Coulson, Esq., 
and T. A. Wood & Co., Portland; Dr. Caples, of Colum¬ 
bia; R. B. Reed, Esq., of Wasco; P. C. Sullivan, M. 
Baker, and B. P. Patterson,, of Grand Ronde valley; 
Messrs. Dugan k Wall, of Crescent City,- Cal. 


MB 10a 














































Organized at Marysville, Cal., Dec. 1, 1863. 


DIRECTORS: 

F. J. McCANN, and J. H. JEWETT, of Marysville. 

J. BERRY, and JOHN ANDREWS, of Yreka. 
BENJAMIN SHURTLEFF, of Shasta. 

E. F. NORTHAM, and B. P. AVERY, of San Francisco. 



THE Mil AMI Mill Hill IIIIIIIIUII 

COMPA TST "ST. 

Organized at Jacksonville, Oregon, Nov. 7, 1863. 


DIRECTORS: 

GEO. 31. WILLIAMS and A. HOLBROOK, Portland. 
C. P. CRANDALL, of Salem. 

F. A. CHENOWETH, of Corvallis. 

J. B. UNDERWOOD, of Eugene City. 

JOHN KELLY, of Iioseburg. 

J. C. TOLMAN, of Ashland. 
























































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